Quad summit with China as elephant in the room, Biden-Modi meeting: 7 takeaways from the PM’s US visit

Underlining that the Quad leaders are meeting at a time when “the world is surrounded by conflicts and tension”, PM Modi said the grouping was “not against anybody”. This is seen as aimed at China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific.

Addressing the 6th Quad Leaders’ summit in Wilmington, Modi said, “We are meeting at a time when the world is surrounded by conflicts and tension. At such a time, it is important for all of humanity that the members of Quad move forward based on democratic values. We are not against anybody. All of us support rules-based international order, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and peaceful resolution of all disputes.”

“A free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific is our shared priority and shared commitment. We have together taken several positive and inclusive initiatives in areas such as health security, critical and emerging technologies, climate change and capacity building,” he said.

“Our message is clear: Quad is here to stay, to assist, to partner and to complement,” the Prime Minister said during a roundtable attended by US President Joe Biden, Japan PM Fumio Kishida and Australian PM Anthony Albanese.

Biden, who was hosting the leaders in his high school Archer Academy, said, “We are democracies. We are democracies who know how to get things done. That’s why, within the first days of my presidency, I reached out to your nations to propose we elevate the Quad, making it more consequential. Four years later, our four countries are more strategically aligned than ever before. And today, we have announced initiatives that deliver real positive impact for the Indo-Pacific, which includes providing new maritime technologies to our regional partners so they know what’s happening in their waters, launching cooperation between Coast Guards for the first time, and expanding the Quad fellowship to include students from Southeast Asia.”

“While challenges will come, the world will change, but the Quad is here to stay,” the US President said.

With an eye on China, the joint statement said, “As Leaders, we are steadfast in our conviction that international law, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the maintenance of peace, safety, security and stability in the maritime domain, underpin the sustainable development, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. We emphasize the importance of adherence to international law, particularly as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to address challenges to the global maritime rules-based order, including with respect to maritime claims. We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas.”

“We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea. We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers. We also oppose efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities. We reaffirm that maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, as reflected in UNCLOS… We underscore that the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea is a significant milestone and the basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties.”

Of late, China and the Philippines have been involved in minor clashes in the region, stemming from their overlapping claims on the resource-rich, strategically important South China Sea. In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favour of the Philippines by noting China’s aggressive activities in the dispute, although the decision did not award sovereignty to any party.

Biden was caught on a hot mic telling leaders of the Quad nations that China was testing them, while reflecting upon the serious view America takes on the emerging Chinese threat.

“We believe Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimise the turbulence in China,” Biden told the leaders at the Summit.

His opening remarks were caught on the hot mic as pool reporters were leaving the Summit venue. Biden was heard saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping is “looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest.” Biden added that China continues to “behave aggressively, testing us all across the region on several fronts, including on economic and technology issues”.

“At the same time, we believe intense competition requires intense diplomacy,” he said.

Cooperation on initiatives ranging from health to infrastructure was announced. Here are the major deliverables:

* “Quad Cancer Moonshot”, a groundbreaking partnership to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region. Under this, India will provide $7.5 million worth of HPV sampling kits, detection kits and cervical cancer vaccines to countries in the Indo-Pacific.

* A commitment from the Serum Institute of India, in partnership with Gavi and the Quad, to support orders of up to 40 million HPV vaccine doses for the Indo-Pacific region.

* The First-ever “Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission” in 2025 to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety between our Coast Guards across the Indo-Pacific.

* The Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project, to pursue shared airlift capacity among our nations and leverage our collective logistics strengths, in order to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region.

* The “Quad Ports of the Future Partnership” will harness the Quad’s collective expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific. Here, Quad partners will share practices to ensure that ports can maintain an acceptable level of service and infrastructure to ships, cargoes, and other customers in the face of disruptions (e.g. pandemics, natural disasters and cyber or terrorist attacks).

* A “Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network Memorandum of Cooperation” that would leverage the complementary strength of the Quad partners to realize a diversified and competitive market and enhance Quad resilience in semiconductor supply chains.

* The Leaders also agreed to reform the UN Security Council and recognised the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council.

* Leaders welcomed the “Quad Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure” for the region and beyond. Through DPI, the Quad partners have agreed to provide equitable access and improve public service delivery at scale; governed by applicable legal frameworks that provide for a level playing field to drive development, inclusion, innovation, trust, and competition.

* Quad partners agreed to launch a “Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific” (MAITRI) to enable Indo-Pacific partners to maximise tools provided through Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) and other Quad initiatives. MAITRI will enable regional partners to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behaviour. India will host the inaugural MAITRI workshop in 2025 (during India’s Quad Presidency).

Meeting in Biden’s hometown Delaware, PM Modi told him that India and the US today “enjoy a comprehensive global strategic partnership that covers all areas of human endeavor, driven by shared democratic values, convergence of interests and vibrant people-to-people ties”, the Ministry of External Affairs said. The Prime Minister “conveyed his appreciation for the unparalleled contributions made by President Biden in giving impetus to the India-US partnership”, the MEA said.

Modi said in a post on X, “I thank President Biden for hosting me at his residence in Greenville, Delaware. Our talks were extremely fruitful. We had the opportunity to discuss regional and global issues during the meeting.”

The statement said that Modi warmly recalled his State visit to the USA in June 2023 and President Biden’s visit to India in September 2023 for the G-20 Leaders’ Summit. He “noted that the visits have imparted greater dynamism and depth to the India-US partnership”.

The MEA statement said that the two leaders discussed ways to further enhance bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest and exchanged views on global and regional issues.

After the meeting that lasted about an hour, Biden said, “The United States’ partnership with India is stronger, closer, and more dynamic than any time in history. Prime Minister Modi, each time we sit down, I’m struck by our ability to find new areas of cooperation. Today was no different.”

This was the eighth time the two have met in person in the last four years, and Saturday’s meeting is seen as Biden’s “farewell” Quad as US President.

The US has handed over to India 297 antiquities, which were smuggled out of the country, during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official statement said on Sunday.

Modi said on X, “Deepening cultural connect and strengthening the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural properties. I am extremely grateful to President Biden and the US Government for ensuring the return of 297 invaluable antiquities to India.” He noted that these objects were not just part of India’s historical material culture, but formed the inner core of its civilisation and consciousness, an official statement said.

With this, the total number of ancient items recovered by India since 2014 has gone to 640, officials said, adding that the number returned from the USA alone will be 578.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that issues related to Bangladesh were discussed during the bilateral meeting between PM Modi and President Biden. Last month, the two leaders discussed the situation during their phone conversation as well. Modi had flagged the situation of minorities, including Hindus, in Bangladesh.