Wilmington (USA). When President Joe Biden hosts the leaders of Australia, Japan and India in his hometown on Saturday, he will seek to showcase the Indo-Pacific partnership he has nurtured since taking office, with an eye on his legacy. Before Biden entered the White House, the member countries of the so-called Quad met only at the foreign minister level. Biden tried to transform the group into a top-level partnership and shift the focus of US foreign policy away from conflicts in West Asia and toward threats and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific.
This weekend’s summit is the fourth in-person meeting of Quad leaders since 2021 and the sixth overall. Biden has taken a personal interest in what is likely to be the group’s final meeting before he leaves office on January 20. He opened his home in Wilmington, Delaware, to each leader, and hosted a joint meeting and formal dinner at the high school he attended more than 60 years ago. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Wilmington for the meetings ahead of attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week.
“He wants to spend some private moments with them to continue to build on those relationships. That’s what it’s all about,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. On Friday afternoon, Biden hosted Albanese at his sprawling home on a pond in a wooded area several miles west of the city. On Saturday, he is also scheduled to host Kishida and Modi there, followed by consultations with all the leaders at Archmere Academy in nearby Claymont. Jean-Pierre said news reporters and photographers have not been allowed to cover Biden’s individual meetings with leaders and Biden will not hold any news conferences.
