During the upcoming meeting at the White House, the leaders, including outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, will seek to advance cooperation in such areas as combating the coronavirus pandemic.
S President Joe Biden will host the first-ever in-person "Quad" meeting with leaders from Japan, Australia and India on Sept. 24, the White House said Monday, indicating Washington's continuing focus on the region in the face of China's increasing clout.
During the upcoming meeting at the White House, the leaders, including outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, will seek to advance cooperation in such areas as combating the coronavirus pandemic.
They will also aim to partner on emerging technologies and cyberspace as well as promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, quoted by Kyodo News.
Hosting the Quad leaders demonstrates the Biden administration's "priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations to meet the challenges of the 21st century," she said.
Psaki also said the administration has made "elevating the Quad a priority," as seen through the first-ever summit meeting in March, which took place virtually amid the pandemic.
In Tokyo, Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a press conference, "The Japanese government hopes there will be candid discussions among the leaders on common issues the region faces, including the promotion of the free and open Indo-Pacific and response to the novel coronavirus pandemic."
In the March discussion, Biden, Suga, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to work toward delivering up to 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Southeast Asia and elsewhere by the end of 2022 through a substantial increase in production capacity in India.
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