White House Says No Plans to Add New Members to Quad at This Time

There is no plan to add new members to the Quad at this point in time, the White House has said ahead of the summit of Quad leaders in Australia later this month.

Head of State from Quad countries — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister Narendra Modi from India, and US President Joe Biden – are scheduled to meet in Australia on June 24.

“The Quad was established two years ago. The Quad is still a relatively young partnership. There are no plans for new members at this time,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.

Quad members, she said, have agreed that for now, they’ll focus on cementing the quad’s many strengths.

“However, the Quad welcomes opportunities to work with a wide range of Indo-Pacific partners, such as through its Indo-Pacific partners on maritime domain awareness, which is delivering cutting edge maritime domain awareness technology around the region,” she said.

“The May 24th Sydney Summit will showcase other opportunities for the Quad to partner around the region on climate, global health, infrastructure, and more. The Quad’s top priority is ensuring it is well-positioned to deliver for the Indo-Pacific. And so, there’s no conversation on extending or expanding at this time,” Jean-Pierre said.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)