Modi leaves for Quad Summit in Japan, bilateral talks with Biden also lined up

NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will have a bilateral meeting in Tokyo on the sidelines of the Quad Summit, both sides confirmed on Sunday.

“In addition to the Quad, President Biden will have a distinct bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi. It won’t be part of the formal agenda of Quad, but significant security issues in the Indo-Pacific will come up and all of the Quad members also share an interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on board Air Force One enroute to Tokyo.

The fourth Quad Summit begins on May 24. “I will hold a bilateral meeting with President Biden, where we will discuss further consolidation of our multi-faceted bilateral relations with US. We will also continue our dialogue on regional developments and contemporary global issues,’’ said Modi.

Biden wants to send a message of deterrence to China on Taiwan. “We do not want to see unilateral changes to the status quo and we certainly don’t want to see military aggression,” Sullivan added.

An Indo-Pacific Economic Framework will be launched during the the summit. It is an arrangement for further integration of the Indo-Pacific economies, setting standards and rules, particularly in new areas like the digital economy and also trying to ensure that there are secure and resilient supply chains.