PM Narendra Modi to attend first in-person quad summit hosted by Joe Biden

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been scheduled to travel to the United States to attend his first in-person summit of the leaders of the "Quad" countries - Australia, India, Japan and the United States. The summit will be hosted by President Joe Biden next week, the centre confirmed.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan and President Joe Biden of the USA will be present in person for the summit in Washington on September 24.

"The Leaders will review progress made since their first virtual Summit on March 12 and discuss regional issues of shared interest," said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.

"As part of their ongoing efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, they will review the Quad Vaccine initiative which was announced in March this year," it added.

The vaccine initiative from the first summit was hit after India faced deadly second wave of coronavirus this year. 

Critical and emerging technologies, connectivity and infrastructure, cyber security, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, climate change and education will be discussed at the meeting, said New Delhi.

The meeting comes at a time when the US President Joe Biden's image has been struck after his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

"Hosting the leaders of the Quad demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration's priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations to meet the challenges of the 21st century," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

PM Modi is also scheduled to address the General Debate at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 25 in New York.

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