Quad Leaders’ Summit in Jeopardy After Biden Cancels Australia Visit

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday his government was in talks with the leaders of Japan and India after US President Joe Biden postponed his trip to Australia to attend a Quad leaders’ meeting.

President Joe Biden has canceled the visit, the second leg of his upcoming Asia trip, due to the US debt crisis and will return to Washington following the G7 summit in Japan this week.

“The President and I agreed that we would work to reschedule his visit to Australia at the earliest opportunity,” Albanese said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Albanese was planning to host President Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Sydney on May 24 for the third in-person summit.

The Quad is a diplomatic partnership of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, committed to promoting stability, resilience and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

The report of US President’s postponement came a few hours after White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday Biden may skip his Australia visit after the G7 summit in Japan due to the unfolding debate in Washington over the US debt ceiling,

“We’re working though, thinking through, the rest of the trip right now,” Kirby said during a regular briefing.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs also announced that Prime Minister Modi will visit Sydney at the invitation of the Australian PM to participate in the Quad Leaders’ Summit.

“The Summit provides an opportunity for the Leaders to exchange views about developments in the Indo-Pacific region and advance their vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” the MEA press note added.

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