A planned summit of Quad leaders from the United States, India, Australia, and Japan in Sydney next week has been canceled after US President Joe Biden pulled out of his visit, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday, adding that talks could still proceed as leaders visit Japan.
The meeting would have brought Biden together with Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on May 24 for the third in-person leaders' summit of the informal security grouping.
Biden was planning to travel to Sydney as part of a weeklong Asia tour that was set to begin in Hiroshima, Japan for a gathering of the Group of Seven (G7) leaders and include a stopover in Papua New Guinea before joining the March 24 summit of Quad leaders.
Biden will still travel to Japan starting Wednesday, but he canceled the additional legs of the trip, due to the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations in Washington, the White House confirmed Tuesday.
Known formally as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the grouping has had increasing prominence in recent years as the US seeks to re-energize its security ties in the Indo-Pacific amid increased competition with China and growing concerns over Beijing's aggressive posture in the region.
"The Quad leaders' meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. We, though, will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan," Albanese said, adding that all four leaders would be in Japan this weekend but no time has been confirmed.
"The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at leadership level and we'll be having that discussion over the weekend," he said.
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