'It Would be Irresponsible if They...': China to be 'High on Agenda' During Quad Summit, Says US

Washington: The United States on Wednesday said China will certainly be "high on the agenda" at the upcoming QUAD Summit set to be hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington on Sept 21.

Speaking at a press briefing, John Kirby, US National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications asserted that it would be 'irresponsible' of the Quad leaders to not hold talks about the challenges that exist in the region caused by China.

Further when asked to heat extent will the focus on China, the US official said, "I think it'll certainly be high on the agenda. I mean, there's not an opportunity when you get together with these particular leaders, the Indo-Pacific, Quad, where you in fact it would be irresponsible if they didn't talk about the challenges that still exist in the region caused by aggressive PRC military action for instance, unfair trade practices, tensions over the Taiwan Strait. I have no doubt that all those issues will come up."

"I think you'd have to talk to the leaders about their particular view of the PRC. But, I think we all have a common understanding about the challenges that the PRC is posing, but each of them is a sovereign country; they get to decide for themselves what their relationship is going to be with the PRC and how that looks; each of them has a different relationship with the PRC, including us," he added.

'Summit of the Future'

Biden is set to host the 4th in-person Quad summit in Delaware. This will be the first time when Biden will host leaders in his hometown. Leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.

Speaking about the upcoming Quad summit, Kirby further said that Biden will meet each leader and will also hold a plenary session where they will discuss a variety of important ongoing issues.

"The President will meet individually with each of them, and then we'll also gather together in a larger plenary session where they will discuss expanding cooperation across a range of critically important issues. We believe that you'll see coming out of this summit that the Quad is more strategically aligned and more relevant than ever before."

"I think you can expect a robust agenda aimed at delivering concrete benefits to the people of the region as they all identify priorities such as health, security, natural disaster response, maritime security, quality infrastructure, critical and emerging technologies, climate and clean energy, and cybersecurity. You'll also see some announcements that demonstrate our intention to make sure that this special partnership the Quad endures and in fact thrives over the long term. We'll have more details, of course to share on the specific deliverables as we get a little closer to the weekend," he added.

PM Modi in the US

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a visit to the US from September 21 to 23, during which he will take part in the Quad Summit. The Indian Prime Minister will address the 'Summit of the Future' at the United Nations General Assembly in New Yokir on September 23.

During the conference, When asked if Biden intends to press PM Modi on human rights during their bilateral meeting, Kirby responded, "There's not a conversation that he has with foreign leaders where he doesn't talk about the importance of respecting human and civil rights and that includes with Prime Minister Modi. He did when the Prime Minister was here in the United States and and I'm sure that, as appropriate, he'll do going forward. I'm not going to get ahead of the conversation but he never shies away from talking about our concerns over human and civil rights anywhere in the world."

At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last year and will set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations, a Ministry of External Affairs release said.