President Biden showed a slice of his Delaware hometown of Wilmington to the leaders of Australia, Japan and India as he hosted what may be the last meeting of the increasingly popular Indo-Pacific partnership during his White House tenure.
When Mr. Biden began his presidency, he wanted to elevate the Quad, which until now had met only at the level of the secretary of state, into a leadership-level partnership as he tried to steer US foreign policy. from the conflict in the Middle East and to threats and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific. This weekend marks the fourth and sixth public meetings of the leaders since 2021.
“It will survive beyond November,” Mr. Biden said as leaders gathered at Archmere Academy, his high school alma mater in Claymont, for a joint discussion.
Biden is a leader in his Wilmington home and high school alma mater
The president, who has admitted to an uneven track record as an undergraduate, also seemed amused to host a meeting with three world leaders at the school he attended more than 60 years ago. He welcomed each leader with a one-on-one talk at a nearby house before they gathered at the school for talks and a formal dinner.
“I don’t think this principal thought I would lead a meeting like this,” Mr. Biden joked to fellow leaders.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived at the summit ahead of an appearance at the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
“This place is not suitable for his last visit as prime minister,” said Kishida, who like Mr. Biden, will soon leave office.
Before that, the president was warm Hello Kishida when he arrived at the house on Saturday morning and gave the prime minister a tour of the property before their talks. Kishida, according to the prime minister’s office, thanked Biden at the beginning of the meeting for inviting him to meet at his home.
White House officials said holding the talks at the president’s home, located near a pond in a wooded area a few miles west of the city, was intended to make the meeting more relaxed.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan described Mr. Biden’s vibe a one-on-one meeting with the Albanesewho stopped by the house there, as “two men – one in another’s house – talking in broad strokes about where they see the country of the world.” He said Mr. Biden and Mr. Albanese also exchanged stories about their political careers.
The Australian leader said the visit gave him “an understanding of what I believe makes you an outstanding world leader.”
Modi also stopped by the house on Saturday to meet Mr Biden before the leaders gathered for joint discussions in Archmere.
“There is no better place than President Biden’s hometown of Wilmington to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Quad,” Modi said.
Reporters and photographers were barred from covering Mr. Biden’s individual meetings with the leaders, and Mr. Biden did not plan a press conference – a question-and-answer display typical of such international summits.
What Biden hopes to accomplish with the summit
As part of the summit, leaders are set to announce new initiatives to improve maritime security in the region – with enhanced coastguard collaboration across the Pacific and Indian Oceans – and increased cooperation in humanitarian response missions. The measures are intended as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Modi are expected to discuss Mr. Modi’s recent visit to Russia and Ukraine as well as economic and security issues regarding China. Modi is the most prominent leader of a country that maintains a neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sullivan said that “countries like India must uphold and uphold the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that “every country, wherever it is, must refrain from providing inputs to Russia’s war machine.”
The gathering was also an opportunity for Mr. Biden and Japan’s Kishida to say goodbye.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Kishida, who both resigned from office amid widespread public support, consider the tightening of security and economic ties between the U.S., Japan and South Korea to be among their most important achievements. The two leaders sat down for a one-on-one chat on Saturday morning.
Improved relations between Japan and South Korea, two countries with deep and complicated histories that have struggled to keep talking, have come amid worrisome developments in the Pacific, including steps North Korea has taken in its nuclear program and increasing China’s assertiveness.
Mr Biden praised Kishida for showing “courage and confidence in strengthening relations” with South Korea, according to the White House. He also discussed China’s “coercive and destabilizing activities” in the Pacific, Russia’s war against Ukraine and emerging technology issues.
Tension surrounds Nippon Steel’s planned acquisition of US Steel
The US and Japan are negotiating through a rare moment of tension in their relationship. Mr. Biden, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, both candidates in the 2024 presidential election, have opposed it. $15 billion bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel to take over American-owned US Steel.
Biden administration officials indicated this week that the U.S. government committee’s formal assessment of the proposed deal has not yet been submitted to the White House and may not come until after the Nov. 5 election.
Sullivan rejected speculation that the timing of the expected report could suggest that Mr. Biden is thinking about the opposition.
The Biden administration promised that the leaders would issue a joint statement containing the strongest language on China and North Korea that the four countries would agree to.
The White House said the leaders on Saturday will launch a new collaboration to reduce cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific. The announcement is related to the Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a long-standing passion project of the president and his wife, Jill Biden, that aims to reduce cancer deaths. The Bidens’ son, Beau, died in 2015 at the age of 46 from brain cancer.
As Mr. Biden’s time in office winds down, the White House is also celebrating the bipartisan, bicameral formation of the “Quad Caucus” in Congress to ensure the longevity of the partnership regardless of the outcome of the November election.