Modi arrives in Washington, meeting with Quad leaders on top of the agenda

“The Prime Minister was received by TH Brian McCain, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, on behalf of the Government of the United States of America,” a statement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.

From the Indian side, the welcome lineup included India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Defense Attache Brigadier Anoop Singhal, Air Commodore Anjan Bhadra and Naval Attache Commodore Nirbhaya Bapna.

“Indian expatriates were also present at Andrews Airbase and they welcomed the Prime Minister with joy,” the statement said. According to news reports, the presence of Indian expatriates at Andrews’ joint base was despite heavy rains in the area.

Modi’s program in Washington on Thursday includes a meeting with a select group of CEOs of American companies. According to news reports, heads of Qualcomm, Adobe, First Solar, General Atomics and Blackstone will attend the meeting.

Apart from the meeting with the CEO, Modi will also hold bilateral talks with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since Australia, the UK and the US announced a trilateral security partnership, known as Aukas, last week. Under the agreement, the US will transfer technology to Australia to build a fleet of nuclear powered submarines.

The move comes against the backdrop of the Biden administration’s resolve to focus on the Indo-Pacific, against the backdrop of growing China and Beijing’s aim to build up a naval force to rival the US. China’s rise is being seen in the region and beyond, with increasing friction with its neighbors in the South China and East China Seas and the Strait of Taiwan. The AUKUS agreement has however angered France, which was defeated in a 2016 deal to build diesel submarines for the Australian Navy.

Briefing reporters on Modi’s US visit on Tuesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said that the AUKUS arrangement was not relevant to the Quad nor would it affect the working of the grouping. He was responding to a question whether the new AUKUS alliance would affect or undermine the Quad – which brings together the US, India, Australia and Japan and aims to create a free and open Indo-China against the backdrop of the belligerent emergence of China. -Pacific is to be ensured. .

“Quad is a multilateral grouping. It is a group of countries that have shared a common view of their characteristics and values. They also share a shared vision of the Indo-Pacific region as a free, open, transparent, inclusive region.”

He said that the Quad has an active agenda like delivering vaccines to fight the pandemic in the countries of the Indo-Pacific region.

“AUKUS, on the other hand, is a security alliance between three countries. We are not a party to this alliance. From our point of view, it is neither relevant to the Quad nor will it have any impact on its functioning,” Shringla said.