President Joe Biden's Friday meeting with leaders of the informal international alliance known as the "Quad" comes as the White House continues its efforts to counter China's influence.
Aside from the U.S., the "Quad" nations consist of Australia, Japan, and India, NBC News reported. The informal grouping is known as the "Quad," which is short for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, according to NPR.
Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison all were expected to participate in the meeting.
NBC News reported Biden began the summit by emphasizing the need for a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.
COVID-19 vaccines and climate change were listed on the agenda for the meeting, and each nation made it clear the group was not an anti-Beijing club.
"It was established not to counter one single threat or to focus on one single issue," but "to showcase what democracies can deliver together, both for our own populations and for the broader world," State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday.
Still, the alliance is viewed as an effort to counter China's military and economic power.
"It's a group of countries all concerned about China, and all trying to hold the line for an open, democratic non-Chinese way forward," China analyst Bill Hayton told NBC News.
However, he added, the "Quad" is not a formal alliance in the same way as NATO, and carries no strict duty to defend one another.
The Associated Press pointed out Biden has said he sees cooperation with allies in the region as a central focus of his strategy to deal with China's growing economic and military strength.
"That President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we’ve placed on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
Biden and the other countries are expected to announce a deal to expand COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity in India after the meeting, according to the Independent newspaper.
Attributing its information to two senior officials in the administration, who spoke before the meeting, the newspaper said the effort by the "Quad" is projected to allow India to increase manufacturing capacity by 1 billion doses by 2022.
There have been calls over the past few weeks for wealthier nations, including the U.S., to donate vaccines to poorer countries.
All the "Quad" nations have seen a deterioration of their relations with Beijing over the years, whether because of economic issues, border disputes or COVID-19, the Independent said.
The newspaper noted the India-China border standoff in Ladakh is not fully resolved while the U.S. and China are at odds over a range of issues, including Taiwan.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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