US President Joe Biden remains committed to attending the annual leadership summit of the Quad countries, scheduled to be held in India this year, according to a statement from the White House on Thursday.
“We're still committed to there being a Quad leader summit this year, but there's nothing on the calendar right now for it,” White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby informed reporters at a news conference.
The Quad, comprising Australia, Japan, India, and the US, is an initiative led by Biden. He convened the first virtual leadership summit of the Quad countries in the initial 100 days of his presidency in 2020. Since then, the Quad leaders have held annual summits on a rotational basis, with India set to host the summit this year.
Kirby added that since Biden is not running for re-election, there may be new opportunities on the calendar that previously were not possible.
“We're all exploring what those opportunities can look like in terms of advancing his foreign policy agenda and national security opportunities here and around the world. But I don't have anything on the schedule to speak to now, but I mean, stay tuned,” Kirby said.
He emphasized that there are numerous critical issues for the national security team to address, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, climate change, and the dynamic situation in the Indo-Pacific region.
“I think there'll be some opportunities that the president is going to want to explore. Look, I mean, we've still got a war in Ukraine, still got a war in Gaza, still got climate change to deal with. We've still got a very restless Indo-Pacific. I mean, I could go on and on. There's plenty of things for the national security team to try to continue to get done,” Kirby explained in response to a question.
