Lauding India’s role in the Quad, the US has said it expects and views India as a leader within the Quad and has expressed gratitude for its leadership.
At a press conference, Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior director for East Asia and Oceania at the US National Security Council, said the US Indo-Pacific strategy mentions seeking New Delhi’s role as a leader in the region and increasingly partnering with Washington, DC.
Asked about India’s role in the Quad, Mira Rapp-Hooper said, “In terms of the role we expect India to play, we expect and indeed see India as a leader within the Quad. I think the best encapsulation of how we think about India’s role is reflected in our Indo-Pacific strategy, where we say that the United States is looking for an India that is increasingly a leader in the region and increasingly a partner with the United States.”
“The Quad has been an ideal forum through which we can work together, because it not only allows for the critical exchange of strategic views, on which of course we are, as I say, increasingly aligned, but it also allows us to identify opportunities and priorities that are not just important to the United States or its traditional treaty allies like Australia and Japan, but are really important to India. So as you can see, through the Quad we are increasingly working on projects in South Asia, which of course is a huge strategic priority for the Delhi government. And we are grateful for India’s leadership,” he added.
Mira Rapp-Hooper said that this year’s Quad Summit was scheduled to be held in India. However, she added that the decision to change the venue was taken keeping in mind the schedules of the four leaders. She said that Prime Minister Narenda Modi had agreed to swap the years of the meeting with the US and that the US hopes that the Quad leaders will meet in India in 2025.
Asked whether the next Quad Summit will be held in India, he said, “Yes, we hope that next year’s Quad Summit will be held in India. When we were planning this year’s Quad Summit, India was, exactly as you say, scheduled to be the host. But as we looked at the schedules of the four leaders, it became increasingly clear that the best way to ensure that they met and had the time they wanted to have these deep discussions would be this weekend here in the United States. So, Prime Minister Modi graciously agreed to swap hosting years with us and we look forward to all four Quad leaders meeting in India next year.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, to be hosted by US President Joe Biden on September 21. Following the US side’s request to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025.
Quad is a diplomatic partnership between four countries: Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday said that Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit to the US will be an opportunity to have a substantive engagement with US President Joe Biden where they will have an opportunity to review the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership.
Addressing reporters on the occasion of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US, Misri said, “This will also be a valedictory event of sorts as far as the Quad is concerned for President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida of Japan and hence the Quad event provides the Prime Minister with an opportunity to thank both leaders for their leadership in giving impetus and relevance to the Quad partnership.”
He said, “There will be an opportunity to have a substantive engagement between the Prime Minister and President Biden where they will have an opportunity to review the comprehensive global strategic partnership between India and the United States that today covers almost every aspect of human endeavour through the more than 50 bilateral engagements and dialogue mechanisms that we have between the two sides.”
“We also look forward to bilateral meetings with the leaders of Japan and Australia,” he added.
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