Quad leaders meet in Japan to discuss China, Russia tensions | News

Leaders of US, Japan, India and Australia meet in Tokyo to discuss regional security as well as the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The leaders of the United States, Japan, Australia and India are meeting in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, for a second in-person summit of the Indo-Pacific Quad grouping.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the leaders of the informal alliance, which was set up to counter China’s growing military and economic influence, are discussing climate change, technology, maritime surveillance, as well as the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has risked division among the group.

India, which has close ties with Russia, is yet to condemn Moscow’s war.

US President Joe Biden, in his opening remarks, said the Quad’s goals of securing a “free and open” Indo-Pacific has only been heightened by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“We are navigating a dark hour in our shared history,” he said. “The Russian brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe … This is more than just a European issue. It’s a global issue.”

Biden is set to hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the Quad summit.

A White House official, speaking to reporters ahead of the event, said the US president was aware that countries have their own histories, interests and outlooks and “the idea is to build on the commonalities”, but that there was broad understanding among the leaders that what was happening in Ukraine was “a serious threat to the international order”.

He is also set to hold separate talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who took up his post on Monday after his party won the election last weekend.

Albanese told the Quad summit that his goals aligned with the priorities of the ad hoc group and pledged to stand together with the group for a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

The Quad, first set up in the wake of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 to coordinate humanitarian assistance, has now evolved into what the US calls a “leading regional partnership” to advance the vision of a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

The grouping has held military exercises and has established six leader-level working groups on the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, technology, cybersecurity, space and infrastructure.

At Tuesday’s summit, the leaders are expected to launch a new maritime surveillance initiative to track illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific, according to the White House.

They will also launch the Quad Fellowship, which will sponsor 100 American, Australian, Indian and Japanese students to study in the US each year for graduate degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

China has condemned the grouping as an “Asian NATO” set up to contain its influence.

The Quad summit is taking place during the last leg of Biden’s five-day trip to Asia, which included a three-day stop in South Korea.

There, he and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, pledged to promote freedom in the Indo-Pacific region and promised to consider expanding their joint military drills in the face of North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile programmes.