Biden to travel to Japan for Quad Summit, have bilateral meetings with Modi

TIL Desk/World/Washington/United States President Joe Biden would travel to Japan for the second in-person Quad summit during which he would hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his national security advisor said Wednesday.              

Formed with Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, Quad was an initiative of the Trump Administration, which Biden has elevated to the leadership level.  There have so far been three summits, two of them virtual.              

“We believe that this summit will demonstrate both in substance and in vision that democracies can deliver and that these four nations working together will defend and uphold the principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters during the daily White House news conference.       

While he’s in Tokyo, Biden will also launch a new and ambitious economic initiative for the region, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which will be a 21st century economic arrangement,  designed to tackle new economic challenges, he said.