G7 Summit

Quad Leaders Hold Summit in Hiroshima

Pool Photo via AP
U.S. President Joe Biden, from left, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a Quad meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit, at the Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima on Saturday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

22:30 JST, May 20, 2023

HIROSHIMA — The leaders of the Quad countries — Japan, the United States, Australia and India — held a summit in Hiroshima on Saturday and affirmed their stance to strengthen cooperation to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific, with an eye on China’s increasingly hegemonic behavior.

The summit was attended by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following second-day sessions of the G7 Hiroshima Summit.

In a joint statement, the Quad leaders affirmed their stance to deepen cooperation in such areas as undersea cables, infrastructure development and digital technology.

The Quad summit was originally scheduled to be held in Australia on May 24. However, in light of a standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling, which sets a cap on U.S. government borrowing, Biden canceled planned trips to Papua New Guinea and Australia. As both Modi and Albanese were slated to attend the G7 gathering, the Quad leaders rescheduled their meeting to Saturday in Hiroshima.