Quad meet moved to late 2024 with Biden expected to pass on Republic Day invite

The Quad leaders’ summit will not take place in January and will instead be shifted to late 2024, according to persons aware of the matter.

Media reports indicated that India had proposed 27 January as the date for the summit for the leaders of the four-nation grouping comprising Japan and Australia other than the US and India.

India had invited US President Joe Biden as the chief guest for Republic Day on 26 January and the idea was to hold the summit the next day.

However, sources indicated the proposed dates did not work for the Quad countries, causing the summit date to be shifted.

In 2015, then US president Barack Obama was the chief guest at Republic Day, and Biden would have been only the second US president to be so honoured.

Biden’s decision not to travel to India also comes at a time of some tension in the bilateral relationship. The US justice department recently launched indictment proceedings against an Indian national allegedly involved in a plot to assassinate US-based pro-Khalistan leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The indictment also alleged the involvement of an unnamed Indian intelligence official in the plot.

However, high-level bilateral engagements have continued despite the sensitivity of the matter.

The previous Quad Summit took place in May in Japan on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima. The leaders began meeting annually starting in 2021.