Wilmington (US), Sep 22 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attended the Quad Leaders' Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware.
The Quad Leaders' Summit this year was earlier supposed to be held in India, but President Biden was keen to hold the event in his hometown.
This was a farewell summit for both Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as they near the end of their terms in office -- January 20, 2025 for the US president and Oct 1 for Japanese prime minister.
The fourth leader attending the meeting is Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Here’s a look at previous summits.
-- May 20, 2023 (Hiroshima, Japan)
Format: In-person
Attending leaders: PM Albanese, PM Modi, PM Kishida, and President Biden
Notes: Australia was the host of the summit for the year, and was supposed to hold the summit in Sydney just after the G7 Hiroshima Summit. However, President Biden postponed his trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea at the last minute due to debt ceiling negotiations with Congress. Australia hosted the summit in Hiroshima instead. According to the readout from the Japanese side, the summit lasted about 50 min.
-- May 24, 2022 (Tokyo, Japan)
Format: In-person
Attending leaders: PM Albanese, PM Modi, PM Kishida, and President Biden
Notes: Australia held its federal election on May 21, and Anthony Albanese became Australia's 31st prime minister on May 23, the day before the summit. According to the readout from the Japanese side, it lasted about 2 hours.
-- March 3, 2022 (Virtual)
Format: Video Call
Attending leaders: PM Scott Morrison (Australia), PM Modi, PM Kishida, and President Biden
Notes: According to the readout from the Japanese side, the video call was initiated and hosted by the United States. Four leaders mainly exchanged views on the tense situation and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. It lasted about 70 min.
-- Sept 24, 2021 (Washington, DC)
Format: In-person
Attending leaders: PM Morrison, PM Modi, PM Yoshihide Suga (Japan), and President Biden
Notes: This was the first in-person summit. PM Suga attended the summit after he announced he was stepping down as prime minister on Sept 3. Fumio Kishida became the next prime minister on Oct 4. According to the readout from the Japanese side, it lasted about 2 hour and 20 min.
-- March 12, 2021 (Virtual)
Format: Video Call
Attending leaders: PM Morrison, PM Modi, PM Suga, and President Biden
Notes: This was the first Quad Leaders' Summit. It lasted about 1 hour and 45 min.