Australia rules out Quad summit going ahead in Sydney without President Biden
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out a so-called Quad summit taking place in Sydney without President Joe Biden
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out a Quad summit taking place in Sydney without President Joe Biden, saying the four leaders will talk at the Group of Seven meetings this weekend in Japan.
“The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at the leadership level and we’ll be having that discussion over the weekend," Albanese said.
Indian diaspora
He said Modi will visit Sydney next week, noting the Indian leader was scheduled to give an address to the Indian diaspora at a sold-out 20,000-seat stadium on Tuesday. But Kishida will not visit.
“Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself. He will also have business meetings, he’ll hold a very public event ... in Sydney,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney,” Albanese said. “Prime Minister Kishida of Japan was just coming for the Quad meeting. There wasn’t a separate bilateral program.”
Albanese said it was “disappointing” that Biden decided he could not come.
“The decision of President Biden meant that you can’t have a Quad leaders’ meeting when there are only three out of the four there,” Albanese said.
