Quad meeting to be held in Hiroshima, confirms Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

Despite the change in travel plans of US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the G-7 and Quad summit in Hiroshima, and then he will attend the Indo-Pacific Forum meeting in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, reported Hindustan Times on May 17.

According to the report, the venue of the Quad summit has been changed from Sydney to Hiroshima due to the last minute change in the plans of President Biden because of domestic commitment.

“All four leaders — President Biden, Prime Minister Modi, Prime Minister Kishida and myself — will be at the G-7 held in Hiroshima, “Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, according to the ABC report.

“We are trying to get together over that period of time. The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at the leadership level, and we will be having that discussion over the weekend,” he added.

According to HT report, While US President Biden is expected to meet PM Modi on the side-lines of the G-7 summit, the two countries along with Saudi Arabia and UAE will announce an MoU very soon, as per report, on regional integration of the Middle East with rail and road infrastructure as an alternative to China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI). Decision to this effect was taken in a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Salman, Deputy Ruler of UAE Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and NSA Ajit Doval on May 7.

It is understood that all the four nations have decided to intensify diplomacy to bring peace and security in the Middle-East and also launch counter-radicalisation measures. The Quad on the other hand will open new avenues of cooperation after the Hiroshima meeting with discussions on the on-going Ukraine conflict, rapid expansion of PLA Navy and growing Chinese diplomatic role in global issues like Saudi-Iran affairs, Bangladesh-Myanmar resolution on Rohingyas and President Xi sending his special envoy to Kyviv to resolve the Ukraine conflict.