Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden and other Quad leaders are expected to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific and pressing global issues at their summit talks in Tokyo on May 24.

Modi is visiting Japan on May 23-24 to attend the summit.

Foreign Minister Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Saturday that the forthcoming summit will provide leaders with an opportunity to take stock of progress made so far under the Quad framework and provide guidance for the future.

In addition to attending the Quad Summit, Modi would also hold bilateral meetings with Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Australian counterpart.

Modi will also work with the Japanese business community and the Indian diaspora.

“The Quad cooperation is anchored in shared values ​​and commitment to the principles of democracy, international law, the rules-based international order, and the vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” Kwatra said at a media briefing.

“Since its first summit, Quad has worked to implement a positive and constructive agenda with a strong focus on enabling peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

Asked whether China’s aggressive behavior in the region, including along its border with India, would play a role at the Quad Summit, Kwatra said leaders are expected to discuss “challenges and opportunities” in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the agenda of the deliberations.

When asked about India’s position on the Ukraine conflict, he said it was “perfectly clear” and had been repeated many times.

Kwatra said India had called for an immediate cessation of hostilities from the start of hostilities and maintained that dialogue was the best policy to resolve the issue.

Referring to Quad’s agenda, the Secretary of State said that cooperation efforts under Quad included cooperation on climate action.

He said it is about creating a decarbonized green shipping network in the Indo-Pacific, using clean hydrogen and making it more accessible, as well as pooling capacities to help Indo-Pacific countries with climate monitoring and information sharing.

Kwatra said the Quad’s infrastructure coordination group has been considering supporting sustainable and demand-driven infrastructure in the region in a way that doesn’t burden countries in the region with unsustainable debt.

He said collaboration on critical and emerging technologies, biotechnology, semiconductor supply chain diversification and security of critical cyber infrastructure are other key priority areas of our collaborative efforts in the Quad.

In response to a question, Kwatra said there were no talks of further Quad expansion.

Commenting on Modi’s bilateral meeting with Biden, the Secretary of State said India-US relations are diverse and gaining momentum, are deep and diversified.

“Our long-standing cooperation in the most diverse areas of trade, defence, security, climate and education, energy is on the right track. There is regular exchange of visits and dialogue not only on the bilateral agenda but also on regional and global issues,” Kwatra said.

“The prime minister’s meeting with Biden will mark a continuation of these high-level dialogues and offer guidance and vision to move the relationship forward,” he added.

The foreign minister said Modi will also meet Kishida.

“Japan is one of our most important partners. Modi has called India-Japan relations among the most natural in the region. said Kwatra.

“The meeting will be an opportunity to continue the high-level engagement between the two countries and also advance the bilateral cooperation agenda,” he said.

Regarding Modi’s planned bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart, Kwatra referred to the general elections in Australia.

“We are aware that the next Australian Prime Minister is likely to attend the Quad Summit. The Prime Minister is expected to meet the new Australian Prime Minister in Tokyo,” he said.

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