With eyes on China, Quad nations launch 1 bn vaccine plan, project grouping as ‘vital arena for cooperation’ – NewsGater , NewsGater

The Quad countries (India, USA, Japan and Australia) announced a joint initiative to increase the COVID-19 Vaccine supply in Asia, posing a challenge for China at the group’s first summit on Friday.

US President Joe Biden, who has vowed to revitalize alliances in the face of mounting concerns about China, in his opening remarks said the Quad will be a vital arena for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (quadruple meeting) also featured the participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

In his speech, Biden also described the Quad as a new mechanism to enhance cooperation and increase mutual ambition as they address accelerating climate change, PTI reported.

“We know our commitments … Our region is governed by international law, is committed to all universal values ​​and free from coercion, but I am optimistic about our outlook,” he said, in an apparent reference to China, which is showing its strength. in the region.

Biden added that it was necessary to focus on generating domestic demand and driving sustainable global growth. He also spoke about having an ambitious new joint partnership that will boost vaccine manufacturing and strengthen vaccines to benefit the entire Indo-Pacific region.

“We are establishing a new mechanism to enhance our cooperation and increase our mutual ambition as we tackle accelerating climate change,” he said. The president of the United States also mentioned the commitment to guarantee that the region is governed by international law and is free from coercion.

“I am optimistic about our prospects,” added Biden.

“The Quad will be a vital arena for cooperation in the Indo Pacific and I look forward to working closely with all of you in the years to come,” Biden told Quad leaders, inviting Modi to speak.

“Good to see you,” Biden told Modi.

Addressing the virtual summit, Modi said the Quad has come of age and its agenda on issues such as vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies makes it a force for global good.

In his opening remarks, Modi also spoke about shared values ​​and promoting a safe, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. “We are united by our democratic values ​​and our commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Our current agenda covering areas such as vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies makes the Quad a force for global good,” he said.

“I see this positive vision as an extension of the ancient Indian philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which regards the world as one family,” Modi said.

“We will work together, closer than ever to advance our shared values ​​and promote a safe, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” he said.

The prime minister said that the holding of the summit, which is the first conclave of the top leaders of the Quadrilateral alliance, shows that the Quadrilateral has come of age and will now continue to be an important pillar of stability in the region.

Australian Prime Minister Morrison said the summit marked “a new dawn in the Indo-Pacific.”

“As four leaders of the great liberal democracies in the Indo-Pacific, may our association be the facilitator of peace, stability and prosperity, and do so in an inclusive manner with the many nations of our region,” said Morrison.

One billion vaccines by 2022

Most significant among the deliverables planned at the summit is a coronavirus Vaccine initiative that will add new manufacturing capacity in India for exports to the Indo-Pacific region, the sources said.

This was also confirmed by US officials, according to AFP.

Before the talks, US officials had said the “Quad” nations agreed to work together to produce up to 1 billion doses of vaccines by 2022 as the world seeks to turn the page on the devastation of the world. COVID-19 pandemic, AFP reported.

The plan would have India’s pharmaceutical hub manufacture the US-based Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, backed by financial support from Japan, with Australia handling the shipments.

“What we have tried to come up with is a broad-based approach that addresses the severe vaccine shortage in Southeast Asia in particular,” a US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

US officials did not immediately specify the target countries, but the initiative comes as China, where the deadly virus was first detected in late 2019, works to transform its image into that of a global healer.

China has shipped vaccines as far away as the Dominican Republic and provided doses to international partners such as Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

The Quad format has been growing for more than a decade, but Friday’s talks are the first at the leadership level and come as all four democracies see relations with China deteriorate.

Over the past year, China has engaged in a deadly clash with Indian forces in the Himalayas, intensifying activity near Japanese-administered islands and imposing sanctions on Australian products after a series of disputes.

However, the Biden administration has been careful not to explicitly link the Quad to China, a change in rhetoric after former President Donald Trump’s strident denunciations of Beijing.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Quad does not focus “on a single issue.”

“We have shared interests in defending universal values ​​and rights. We have shared economic interests. We have shared security interests. We have deep people-to-people ties with all of these countries,” Price said.

Australian Prime Minister Morrison said China should not worry about the talks.

The Quad, Morrison told reporters, is about “liberal democracies upholding our values, coming together and making sure we are an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”

‘Unmatched’ American asset

The Biden administration has said that alliances, many of which were badly shaken by aggressive Trump, will be key to achieving its goals.

Earlier this month, the White House singled out China as its main rival, saying the United States can help counter Beijing’s “aggression” by “strengthening and defending our unparalleled network of allies and partners.”

The Quad summit begins a wave of such diplomacy.

Japan announced on Friday that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will become the first foreign leader to have talks at the White House with Biden, who has tried to set an example by limiting travel and meetings during the pandemic.

If conditions permit, the trip will take place “as early as the first half of April,” chief government spokesman Katsunobu Kato told reporters.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will also pay a joint visit next week to both Japan and South Korea on their first overseas trip, with Austin continuing to India.

After showcasing the alliance, Blinken and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet with senior Chinese officials in Alaska late next week in what the Biden administration has promised to be a forceful expression of concerns from U.S.

Blinken has said he will push on trade and human rights, including China’s new restrictions on Hong Kong elections and the mass incarceration of Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities, which both Biden and Trump have described as genocide.

Cooperation between countries should not ‘target’ third parties, says China

When asked about China’s reaction to the Quad conclave, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a press conference in Beijing that exchanges and cooperation between states should “help improve understanding. mutual trust and confidence among regional countries, rather than targeting or undermining interests. ” from any third party “.

“We hope that the relevant countries will follow the principles of openness, inclusion and win-win outcomes, refrain from forming closed and exclusive ‘cliques’ and act in a way that is conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity,” Zhao said .

State of China Global times The newspaper echoed a similar sentiment, criticizing the Quad summit as a US plot against Beijing, and said in an op-ed that India, which has warm relations quickly with the United States but is not a treaty-bound ally. , I should have kept my distance.

“The Quad is not an alliance of like-minded countries as the United States claims,” ​​the newspaper said, and opined that the other three nations face “the shame of being between pressure from the United States and their own interests with China.”

With inputs from agencies