This is the first time that talks have been held between the heads of state of the four-member Quad and it comes because all four countries are seeing increased tensions with China over various issues.
“It has been confirmed that the Quad meeting will take place soon, probably on Friday,” the source said.
The Quad, or quadrangular security dialogue, is an informal strategic forum for the four countries involved and has hosted semi-regular summits and exchanges of information.
But the four heads of state did not appear at the meetings, currently US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
While not a formal military alliance like NATO, the Quad is seen by some as a potential counterweight to growing Chinese influence and alleged aggression in the Asia-Pacific region. The conspiracy was denounced by Beijing as an anti-China bloc.
Morrison had a preview of the talks at a news conference last week.
“The Quad is very central in the United States and our thinking about the region,” Morrison said.
“It’s going to be a feature of the Indo-Pacific engagement. But it’s not going to be a big bureaucracy with a big secretariat and stuff like that. It’s going to be four leaders, four countries, working together constructively for peace, prosperity ‘s Indo – Pacific stability, which is good for everyone in the Indian Pacific, ” said the Australian Prime Minister.
Joint military exercises
Across the military part of the Quad, cooperation has increased in recent years through bilateral agreements between Quad partners and joint military exercises.
Last November, Australia joined the annual Malabar exercises with the US, Japan and India. The maneuvers have been conducted annually since 1992 and have grown in scope and complexity to address what the U.S. Navy previously described as a “variety of shared threats to maritime security in the Indian-Asian Pacific.”
The participation of Australia meant that all four members of the Quad were involved in the exercises for the first time since 2007.
All four have had turbulent relations with China over the past few years.
Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a military clash along the Line of Actual Control in June – the de facto border between the two countries in the Himalayas – that killed troops on both sides after hand-to-hand fighting.
Relations between Beijing and New Delhi have since been frozen, with trade and technology disputes.
Meanwhile, the US has increased the pace of its naval and air missions in the South China Sea, while Beijing’s claims on the major waterway have pushed back. It also increased support for self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing claims is its sovereign territory.
Asia and China have been a major foreign policy focus of the Biden government since its adoption on January 20.
This will be the first international trip by Biden Cabinet officials since the inauguration of the US President.
The Japanese leader is expected to visit Washington
Kato said in a daily press conference on Monday that the summit between Japan and the US would take place, but the date and details had not been determined.
If confirmed, Suga will be the first international leader to visit the White House under Biden’s government.
Blinken this month cites the US relationship with Beijing as ‘the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century’. He said it was necessary to involve China from a strong position that could only be done with allies and partners.
“China is the only country with the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power that seriously challenges the stable and open international system – all the rules, values and relationships that make the world work the way we want it to,” the Biden speech shone administration’s national security strategy said.
CNN’s Junko Ogura contributed to this report.