The much-awaited QUAD summit is expected to be held in Tokyo around May 24, provided the Australian general elections on May 21 do not result in an unfavorable outcome for incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
According to diplomats based in Washington and Tokyo, while US President Joseph Biden, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have converged on May 24 as the date for the QUAD meeting, the Australian Foreign Ministry wants to wait for the May 21 election results before confirming.
HT learns that the QUAD summit will happen on May 24 unless the Australian government wants a postponement. That may happen if the incumbent loses; as things stand Morrison’s opponent from the Labour Party, Anthony Albanese, is doing better than expected, though the former is still ahead, but only just.
India, led by PM Modi is looking forward to the QUAD summit with Washington firmly committed to New Delhi on convergence in the Indo-Pacific and making the grouping a powerful instrument of law-abiding democratic countries. Apart from the odd friction on Human Rights, the India US two-plus-two dialogue went off well with both countries showing close convergence on most issues, the diplomats said.