Japan PM offers to host 2022 QUAD summit in Tokyo; PM Modi, US President Biden to attend

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has invited US president Joe Biden to host the QUAD meeting in late spring, 2022 in Tokyo. Biden and his Japanese counterpart spoke virtually, on January 22 cancelling their previously planned ‘in-person’ meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the  90-minute session, Prime Minister Kishida and President Biden decided to host the Japan-Australia-India-US Summit Meeting in Tokyo, which will be attended by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US president in person. Leaders’ Summit of QUAD last year, was held in September and US President Biden hosted Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the then Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan at the White House. 

At the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD or QUAD) the leaders discuss the ambitious initiatives that deepen the regional ties as well as advance practical cooperation on 21st-century challenges: such as ending the COVID-19 pandemic, ramping up the production, and access to safe and effective vaccines; promoting high-standards infrastructure; combatting the climate crisis ad several other global issues. 

The two leaders, Biden and Kishida, had a session in Glasgow during COP26 but given the COVID-19 situation, a senior administration official announced that both United States and Japan agreed it was important to do this meeting virtually. QUAD will be held in the early half of this year, though reports suggest that since Australia will hold parliamentary elections, the dates may fall after the polls.

At QUAD, Biden to review nations’ commitment to delivering billion vaccine doses in 2022

Though the administration official clarified that Biden and Kishida did not get into specific dates, the former accepted the invitation, and the details are to be worked out. Biden is expected to review the progress to date on the nations’ commitment to delivering a billion doses in 2022. “The idea will be not only to look at the production of those vaccine doses in India, but their distribution not only in Southeast Asia but elsewhere,” the US official iterated. 

Biden and Kishida also discussed the security situation and the challenges in the Indo-Pacific, as well as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Japanese premier Kishida “made clear that Japan would be fully behind the United States,” a Biden administration official said at a White House briefing. The two also shared perspectives on China and mutual interest to promote and defend a free and open Indo-Pacific. Japanese and US leaders criticized China for taking steps to intimidate the neighbours that are “predatory” and discussed nuclear buildup in China that poses a great threat to regional security. 

“Prime Minister [Kishida] complimented President Biden on his role in convening the Quad — two meetings of the Quad last year — and also AUKUS,” a senior Biden administration official informed in a briefing. He added, that PM Kishida told President Biden “security environment in Northeast Asia demanded that Japan step up.” 

Japanese leader informed that his administration has increased the supplemental budget for defense and security spending by 8 percent. President Biden welcomed that move. The two countries announced the inauguration of a new economic forum known as the 2+2, which will include Secretary Blinken and the Secretary of Commerce in order to boost trade in Indo pacific, and ramp up investment in new areas of technology and supply chains. The two also spoke about green innovation, and Biden asserted that Washington was “going to step up our game in the Indo-Pacific.” 

Image: AP/PTI