TOKYO—With eyes on an increasingly assertive China, “Quad” leaders from the Indo-Pacific nations of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia met on Tuesday morning in Tokyo, Japan, to discuss cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
The four Indo-Pacific leaders vowed to stand together for a free and open region at the summit, vowing to work towards peace, prosperity, and stability in the region, while coordinating responses to address U.N. predictions of catastrophic climate change and energy security.
“This is what this [is] about, democracy vs. autocracy—we have to make sure democracy is delivered,” U.S. President Joe Biden said.
In addition to the morning leaders summit, Biden will also meet for bilateral talks with India and Australia, which has a newly elected prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who was sworn in on Monday.
According to an official, Biden will look to “build on the commonalities” that he shares with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the talks despite differences on issues including Russia. Modi is also set to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for talks and a working dinner.
Modi at the leaders’ summit said that India would work toward the Quad’s shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and “continue to strengthen the image of the Quad as a force for good.”
Taiwan was not an official item on the Quad agenda, a U.S. official said, but it was expected to be a key topic when the four leaders meet a day after Biden broke with convention and committed U.S. military support for the self-governed island claimed by China’s ruling Communist Party, which is still at war with Taiwan.
India is the only Quad member to not condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has a long-standing relationship with Moscow, which remains a major supplier of its defense equipment and some oil supplies.
