US President Joe Biden held a Quad leaders summit in the presence of the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan, a week after announcing the AUKUS military partnership between the United States, Australia and Britain, amid efforts to form alliances to counter the growing power of China.

During the four-way meeting held Friday at the White House, Biden said that this summit brings together democratic leaders who share unified values ​​for the future, and work to confront challenges, such as the Corona pandemic, climate change, in addition to technology.

He stressed the group's commitment to advancing its agenda in the Indo-Pacific region, and ensuring that it remains free and open, and stressed that the vaccine production initiative sponsored by the group aims to manufacture one billion doses of an anti-Coronavirus vaccine in India in order to strengthen vaccination across the world.

This is the second summit during the Biden administration's rule of the group, which aims to strengthen the power of the four countries in the Indo-Pacific region to counter the growth of Chinese power, and the new summit was held in attendance, while the summit held last March was virtual.

Although the four countries were careful not to mention China in their statements related to the meeting, Beijing views this group as an attempt to impede its growing power on the global stage.

Prior to the summit, the US President held a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held their first meeting, and the Indian and Japanese sides agreed on what Tokyo described as strong opposition against economic coercion and changing the status quo in the maritime waters of Asia and the ocean. Pacific, referring to China without naming it.

While the Indian Prime Minister stressed that the Quad countries will play a role in ensuring stability and peace in the world, the Japanese Prime Minister said that the summit reflects the four countries' common vision for stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

As for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morris, he said that the Indo-Pacific region should be open to ensure its stability.


Okos and Quads

Although US officials describe the Quad group as friendly and informal, Biden's endeavor to revive this diplomatic formula that was officially launched in 2007 and is known as the "Quadruple Security Dialogue", comes only a week after the announcement of the "Ocos" military partnership between the United States, Australia and Britain.

The sudden announcement of this partnership angered France after Australia canceled a submarine deal with it worth more than 50 billion euros, and replaced it with US nuclear-powered submarines, while China denounced this partnership as a threat to stability.

The US president, who wants to move beyond the direct confrontation between the two superpowers, hopes to revive the game of alliances and motivate his traditional partners to take frank stances against China.

Biden's efforts are based on his desire to mobilize Washington's partners in what he considers an important battle between "authoritarianism and democracy", one of the specific goals of his presidency, especially as he made confronting China a central part of his foreign policy, with increasing tension over navigation and sovereignty in the South China Sea and the future of Taiwan.

US officials say the Quads have no military objective and would complement other regional initiatives.

However, some member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fear that the US campaign in the region will lead to an escalation with China.