⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the first in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit in Washington D.C., USA on 24 September 2021, along with Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister of Japan, and President of the United States of America.
President of the United States of America Joseph Biden hosted Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan at the White House for the first-ever in-person Leaders’ Summit of the Quad.
Highlights of the Quad Summit:
Discussion:
The Leaders discussed affirmative actions towards climate change, decarbonization efforts in shipping and port operations, deployment of clean hydrogen technology, the need for responsible and resilient clean energy supply chains.
Discussed Afghanistan:
The Leaders shared their respective perspectives on Afghanistan and the regional situation in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific.
On Afghanistan, they agreed to deepen their cooperation in counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and called on the Taliban to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 2593.
Quad Principles:
Quad Principles on Technology Design, Development, Governance, and Use were issued.
It will guide not only the region but the world toward responsible, open, high-standards innovation.
Fellowship program:
Announced Fellowship program for 100 students per year to pursue Masters and Doctoral degrees in STEM fields in USA.
The Fellowship program is meant to facilitate and strengthen people to people linkages.
Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group:
A Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group was launched to share assessments of regional infrastructure needs and coordinate approaches, technical assistance and capacity-building efforts.
Climate:
To tackle Climate Change, Quad countries has envisaged to establish:
- Form a Green-Shipping Network:
Quad countries are uniquely situated to deploy green-port infrastructure and clean-bunkering fuels at scale.
- Establish a Clean-Hydrogen Partnership:
To strengthen and reduce costs across all elements of the clean-hydrogen value chain, leveraging existing bilateral and multilateral hydrogen initiatives in other fora.
- Enhance Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Preparedness:
Quad countries commit to increasing the Indo-Pacific region’s resilience to climate change by improving critical climate information-sharing and disaster-resilient infrastructure.
Space Cooperation Working Group:
The Leaders also setup a space cooperation working group to exchange satellite data for monitoring and adapting to climate change, disaster preparedness, and responding to challenges in shared domains.