• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a three-day visit to the US beginning September 21 to attend the annual Quad Summit and address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the UN General Assembly.

• US President Joe Biden will host the fourth ‘Quad Leaders Summit’ in Wilmington, Delaware, on September 21. Besides Modi and Biden, it will be attended by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

• It was India’s turn to host the Quad Summit. But following a request from Washington, India agreed to host the Summit next year.

• At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last one year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations.

• Modi will then travel to New York and address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22.

• Prime Minister Modi will address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23.

• The theme of the Summit is ‘Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow’.

• Modi’s visit comes less than two months before the US heads into presidential elections with Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the top job.

The US general elections will take place on November 5.

What is Quad?

• The Quad, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is an informal grouping of four countries — Australia, India, Japan and the United States. 

• It is a diplomatic partnership of four countries committed to promoting stability, resilience and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. 

• Established in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to coordinate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the Quad has since become a leading regional partnership dedicated to advancing a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific through practical cooperation on diverse 21st-century challenges. 

• The foreign ministers of the four countries held their first meeting under the Quad framework in New York in September 2019.

• The first Leaders’ Summit of the Quad was held virtually in March 2021.

• The Quad recognises that international law, peace, and security in the maritime domain underpins the development and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. 

• The countries are determined to deepen engagement with regional partners, including through capacity-building and technical assistance, to strengthen maritime domain awareness, protect their ability to develop offshore resources, consistent with  the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

• The Quad is exchanging information on ever-evolving threats and working with Indo-Pacific countries, and in multilateral fora, to counter all forms of terrorism and violent extremism.

• Quad partners champion the free, open, and inclusive rules-based order, rooted in international law, that protects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of regional countries.

• The Quad has been focusing on cooperation in areas such as producing vaccines, connectivity projects, facilitating the mobility of students and looking at promoting startups and technology collaboration.

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