PM Modi meets Scott Morrison in US ahead of 1st in-person Quad Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison here ahead of the first in-person Quad meeting to be hosted by US President Joe Biden.

The meeting between PM Modi and Morrison came a week after they spoke over phone and reviewed the rapid progress in the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including through the recent 'two-plus-two' dialogue, and exchanged views on regional developments and the forthcoming Quad meeting.

Both leaders have met a number of times on the sidelines of various international conferences. Earlier, PM Morrison had also called PM Modi to brief him about the plan to go ahead with the Australia, UK and US (AUKUS) alliance.

The meeting assumes significance as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on September 11 held the 'two-plus-two' talks in New Delhi with their Australian counterparts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton.

It was the first meeting between the prime ministers of India and Australia since the AUKUS (Australia, the UK and the US) security partnership was unveiled last week by US President Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Morrison.

The AUKUS partnership, seen as an effort to counter China in the Indo-Pacific, will allow the US and the UK to provide Australia with the technology to develop nuclear-powered submarines for the first time.

Australia said its decision to join a security alliance with the US and the UK is aimed at developing capabilities that can contribute along with India and other countries in deterring behaviour that threatens the peace and security in the Indo-Pacific.

In the first reaction from India on the contentious alliance, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday said that the new security agreement among the US, the UK and Australia is neither relevant to the Quad nor will have any impact on its functioning, and they are not groupings of a similar nature.

Shringla said while the AUKUS is a security alliance among the three countries, the Quad is a plurilateral grouping with a vision for a free, open, transparent and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

The Quad comprises India, the US, Japan and Australia.

US President Biden is hosting the first in-person Quad summit at the White House on September 24 to be attended by Modi, Morrison and Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Developments in Afghanistan, the COVID-19 pandemic and ways to expand cooperation for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific are set to be the central focus of the four-nation grouping Quad.

France reacted angrily to the formation of the new AUKUS alliance as it resulted in Paris effectively losing a multi-billion dollar deal to build 12 conventional submarines for Australia. France is also upset over its exclusion from the alliance.

China has also slammed the formation of the AUKUS.

Earlier today, Prime Minister held talks with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano R Amon and discussed several issues including electronics, telecom manufacturing and various measures to strengthen the innovation ecosystem.

Prime Minister met with General Atomics CEO Vivek Lall and discussed advancing defence manufacturing, use of emerging technologies and augmenting capacity building in India.

PM Modi also met with Adobe chairman Shantanu Narayen. Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi arrived in Washington for his much-touted US visit.

US President Joe Biden will host PM Modi at the White House on September 24. This is going to be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took over as the US President on January 20.