It is confirmed! Even though the QUAD Leaders Summit in Sydney is rescheduled, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to travel to Australia later this month.
Sources have confirmed to Financial Express Online that “PM Modi will travel to Australia and all his engagements there remain unchanged.”
Before the visit to Australia, Prime Minister Modi will meet with the US President Joe Biden, the Australian PM Albanese and Japanese PM Kishida this weekend at G7 Leaders in Hiroshima, Japan. The G7 meeting starts May 19-21 and there will be leaders of Canada, Italy, France, the US, Britain and Germany. India and Australia are special invitees at the G7 meet.
Ahead of his state visit to the US next month, PM Modi and President Biden will meet on the sidelines of the G7.
What was the plan earlier?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to attend the third in-person QUAD Leaders Summit where the US President Joe Biden, Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as host were to be present.
QUAD Leaders Meet Rescheduled
On Wednesday the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese officially announced the cancellation of the Quad summit scheduled to take place in Sydney next week. The White House had earlier announced that President Joe Biden will not visit Australia due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington. The US President was to travel from Japan to Australia and Papua New Guinea
The Australian PM in his announcement said that the QUAD leaders will have a discussion on the sidelines in Japan. It has been reported earlier that the QUAD is an informal grouping of four countries – India, Japan, the US and Australia and these nations promote an open Indo-Pacific and which China views as an attempt to push back its growing presence in the region.
A statement issued by the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on President Biden’s travel plans to Australia and Papua New Guinea, stated that he will return soon after the G7 meet. And that the QUAD remained a priority for the President as it is vital to advance foreign policy goals and promote global stability and prosperity.
Financial Express Online has reported earlier that PM Modi will have a packed schedule later this month when he visits Australia. Besides having a bilateral meeting with his counterpart, he will also address the Diaspora and attend a large event at Qudos Bank Arena to take place on May 23. Earlier this year PM Albanese had formally extended the invite to his Indian counterpart.
According to reports more than 20,000 members of the Indian Community have registered for a grand reception event organized for PM Modi in Sydney — ‘Australia Welcomes Modi’. This has been organized by non-profit Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation (IADF).
