Tokyo/New Delhi, April 28 (FN Agency) Taking forward the Quad initiative of a free and open Indo-Pacific would be key to the Quadrilateral Dialogue Leaders’ Summit to be held in Tokyo on May 24, which will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the in-person meeting along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and Australian PM Scott Morrison. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno in a briefing on Thursday said that PM Kishida and President Biden would hold a bilateral meeting on May 23 in Tokyo, and the following day the Quad Leaders’ summit would be held. “This is going to be an in-person meeting,” Matsuno said. He said that during the deliberations, the four countries would take forward the initiative to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which Japan is playing a key role in vaccines, infrastructure and critical new emerging technologies, and the practical efforts to implement them.
The four leaders would also discuss the international geopolitical situation, and exchange candid opinions to realise a free and open Indo-Pacific, which will be a “strong commitment” from Japan to the world, the top official added. Separately, the White House announced that President Biden will be visiting South Korea and Japan from May 20-24 to boost ties and take forward the Biden-Harris Administration’s “rock-solid commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and to U.S. treaty alliances with the Republic of Korea and Japan”. President Biden will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts: newly elected President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. “In Tokyo, President Biden will also meet with the leaders of the Quad grouping of Australia, Japan, India, and the United States,” the White House said on Thursday.