WORLD NEWS | No current plans to add new members to quartet: White House

WASHINGTON, May 2 (PTI) – The White House said ahead of the quartet leaders’ summit in Australia later this month that there are currently no plans to add new members to the quartet.

A quartet of heads of state — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden — are scheduled to meet in Australia on June 24.

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“Quad was formed two years ago. Quad is still a relatively young partnership. There are currently no plans for new members,” White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre told reporters at a daily news briefing.

Quad members have agreed that for now they will focus on building on the Quad’s many strengths, she said.

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“However, the Quartet welcomes the opportunity to work with a broad range of Indo-Pacific partners, such as through its Indo-Pacific Partnership on Maritime Domain Awareness, which is delivering cutting-edge Maritime Domain Awareness technologies in the region,” she said.

“The Sydney summit on May 24 will showcase other opportunities for the quartet to collaborate around the region in areas such as climate, global health, infrastructure and more. The quartet’s priority is to ensure it is well-positioned to serve the Indo-Pacific region .Therefore, there is currently no dialogue on extension or expansion,” Jean-Pierre said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)