Quad leaders' summit to take place in Sydney on May 24: Aus PM

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday (April 26) that 2023 summit of leaders of the Quad countries will take place in Sydney on May 24. This will be the third in-person meeting of the leaders of Australia, the US, India and Japan.

"I am honoured to host the first ever Quad Leaders' Summit in Australia in Sydney," Albanese said.

"The Quad is committed to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is respectful of sovereignty and ensures security and growth for all."

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The Australian prime minister said that during the summit, the quad countries will discuss how the grouping can work alongside partners and other groupings like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Pacific Islands Forum in order to boost coopeartion in the region.

Quad, an informal grouping of nations which includes India, the US, Japan and Australia does not have a military aspect. But it is widely seen as US-led attempt to counter rapidly rising Chinese influence in political, commercial as well as military arena especially in the Indo-Pacific.

China has in past expressed its displeasure at the grouping.

Australia, long thought to be away from global geopolitical hotspots has increasingly found itself at odds with China as the latter had taken concrete steps to make headway into region previously considered Australia's backyard. Chinese attempts to woo island nations in the Pacific Ocean have not gone unnoticed in Australia. Chinese military ships have increased their forays in waters near Australia in recent past as well.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell have said in recent days that Australian forces need to be capable of responding to potential adversaries whose weapons are faster, can strike farther and are more precise than in the past.

Changing that equation is crucial to the future of Australia's military, they said.

In an address to the National Press Club on Monday, Wong said the region should not be reduced to a binary competition between the United States and China; Australia wanted to work with other middle-sized countries, including those in Southeast Asia, to deter aggression, she said.

"America is central to balancing a multipolar region... We cannot just leave it to the U.S.," she said.

The in-person Quad summit will take place next month amid strained relations between China and the US. The two nations have been sparring on varirty on issues ranging from Ukraine war, tech security to Taiwan and Chinese apps like TikTok.

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