PM Modi to visit Australia despite Quad meet cancellation: Aus PM

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday (May 17) that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would travel to Australia next week despite cancellation of the Quad leaders' meeting. Albanese said he was looking forward to welcoming PM Modi. The Quad meeting was scheduled to take place in Sydney on May 24.

PM Albanese was responding to a question on whether PM Modi would still come to Sydney after Albanese cancelled the Quad meeting.

Why was Quad meeting cancelled?

Quad meeting was cancelled as US President Joe Biden postponed his visit to Australia because of crucial debt-ceiling talks back home that are going on to prevent a catastrophic federal default.

Albanese, Modi, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were to attend the Quad Leaders' Summit.

Also Read | Quad meeting called off after Biden cancels Australia trip to focus on debt ceiling talks

"Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself," Albanese told ABC Radio in Brisbane.

Albanese added that PM Modi will also have business meeting and will hold a public event at Homebush at the Olympic site in Sydney.

"He will also be engaging with Australian-India business relations. I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney," Albanese said.

But he indicated Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would cancel his visit in the wake of Biden's announcement.

"Prime Minister Kishida was just coming for the Quad meeting. There wasn't a separate bilateral programme," Albanese said.
Earlier in the day, Albanese said that Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest in Australia next week despite the cancellation of the Quad meeting.

Watch | Quad summit in Australia postponed after US President Joe Biden cancels trip

The Quad

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad is a grouping of the US, India, Japan and Australia. It is a strategic security dialogue between the four nations.

The dialogue was initiated in 2007 by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with support from then Indian PM Manmohan Singh, former Austalian PM John Howard and former US vice president Dick Cheney.

The Quad does not have a formal military aspect till now but is widely seen to be as a grouping formed to counter China's rising influence in Indo-Pacific.

China has been making forays and trying to pull island nations in the Pacific into its own orbit. This part of the world is often perceived to be the backyard of Australia. Though there hasn't been a military incident, Chinese ships have been seen making forays into southern Indian and Pacific oceans.

China has openly decried formation of the Quad for more than a decade now. Quad countries on their part maintain that the grouping is not targetted against any particular country.

(With inputs from agencies)

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