Quad going to be vital arena for cooperation in Indo-Pacific: Joe Biden

Washington, Mar 12: President Joe Biden said on Friday that the Quad - involving the US, India, Australia and Japan - is going to be a vital arena for cooperation in Indo-Pacific as he opened the first Quad Leaders' Summit which is being attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the bloc.

In his opening remarks, Biden also described Quad as a new mechanism to enhance cooperation and raise mutual ambition as they address accelerating climate change.

"We know our commitments...Our region is governed by international law, committed to all the universal values and free from coercion but I am optimistic about our prospect," he said, in an apparent reference to China which is flexing its muscles in the region.

"The Quad is going to be a vital arena of cooperation in the Indo Pacific and I look forward to working closely with all of you in the coming years," Biden told Quad leaders as requested Prime Minister Modi to speak. "It's great to see you," Biden told Modi.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga are other leaders who are attending the virtual summit, which is the first conclave of the top leaders of the Quadrilateral alliance. Known as the "Quadrilateral Security Dialogue," representatives for the four member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007.

The four countries plan to establish a series of working groups that will focus on climate change; critical and emerging technologies, including working to set technology standards and norms and jointly developing some of the critical technologies of the future, officials said.