New Delhi, Sep 19 (UNI) A Moon Shot Cancer event will be among the highlights of the upcoming Quad Summit on Saturday that will see PM Modi hold talks with the leaders of the US, Australia and Japan in Wilmington, Delaware.
PM Modi will meet with US President Joe Biden, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida for the Quad Summit in Delaware, which is PM Modi’s first stop during his September 21-23 US visit.
The Quad summit is being held in the hometown of US President Joe Biden, who bows out of office in November.
“It was India’s turn to host the summit, and on request of the US side we agreed to exchange it. India will host the next Quad in 2025,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a briefing ahead of the PM’s US visit.
This will be the Sixth Quad and Fourth in-person Quad Summit.
Declining to reveal the Leaders’ Agenda during the summit, the FS said that “Quad has a very, very full and substantive agenda”.
“Quad has a constructive agenda, and it continues to develop… with focus on the Indo-Pacific, with
strong focus on peace prosperity, health, security, HADR, climate change, counter terrorism…”, the FS said.
During the Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved in the past one year, and set the agenda for the next year.
Moon Shot Cancer Event, a milestone event to treat and alleviate the burden of cancer, with focus on treating Cervical Cancer in the Indo-Pacific region, will be a highlight of the Quad summit, the FS said.
He said the summit will also be a farewell event for President Biden and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, who has announced his decision to step down and not seek re-election.
“It will be a farewell event for President Biden and PM Kishida of Japan, and provides an opportunity to thank both leaders for giving salience to the Quad,” he said.
The regional and international geopolitical situation will be discussed at the Quad and will be reflected in the Joint Statement. All the key challenges confronting the international community, relating to peace and security, will be discussed by the leaders, the FS said.
Quad brings together four countries - India, Australia, Japan, and the United States, with a commitment to work as a force for global good and to support an open, free, and inclusive Indo-Pacific that is prosperous and resilient.
The first Quad Leaders’ Summit took place in virtual format on March 12, 2021. Three Working Groups were announced - Vaccine Partnership, Climate Change, and Critical & Emerging Technology.
The second Quad Leaders’ Summit (the first in-person) was held on September 24, 2021 in Washington DC. Three new Working Groups were announced -- on Infrastructure, Space, and Cyber issues. 100 STEM fellowships (25 from each Quad country) to US universities for graduate and doctoral students from Quad countries were announced.
The Third Quad Leaders’ Summit was held virtually on March 3, 2022 to discuss the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the Indo-Pacific. The Leaders agreed to start a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism to enable the Quad to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
The fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit (second in-person) was hosted by Japan on May 24, 2022. Leaders launched the Quad Satellite Data Portal to provide regional countries with space-based data for climate and disaster forecasting and sustainable use of marine resources; Q-CHAMP for practical cooperation on climate action, climate finance, and technology transfer to help countries meet their climate commitments; Quad Debt Management Resource Portal to address challenges of unsustainable debt financing; Quad Partnership on HADR (an India-led initiative) to provide timely and effective assistance in the Indo-Pacific region in the event of future incidents.
The fifth Quad Leaders’ Summit (third in-person) was held in Hiroshima, Japan on May 20, 2023. The “Quad Leaders’ Vision Statement – Enduring Partners for the Indo-Pacific” was released, outlining the Leaders’ vision for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific, and upholding the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and peaceful resolution of disputes.
UNI RN