Joe Biden (L) and Narendra Modi during G20 summit in New Delhi. (File photo)
New Delhi: The Quadrilateral Dialogue or Quad summit, which India has reportedly proposed to be held on January 27 in New Delhi, has been postponed indefinitely, government sources said. The leaders of the Quad counties – United States, India, Australia, and Japan – were to meet for the first time in India to further their maritime security and HADR (humanitarian and disaster relief) cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
It may be mentioned that in November, diplomatic sources from the Quad members said holding the summit on January 27 in New Delhi was still being considered.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, Indian officials who were in the loop told media that this is an indication that the US president, Joe Biden, has declined India’s invitation to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in the national capital on January 26. It may be recalled that in September, the US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, had said that New Delhi had extended Biden an invitation to be the chief guest at the main Republic Day parade.
The postponement of the Quad summit has raised some eyebrows among observers because this comes at a time when Canada, a US ally and member of “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing network comprising the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, accused India of carrying out an assassination of a Canadian citizen and Khalistani activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil. This strained diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Ottawa. This was soon followed by the US charging an Indian government operative of plotting to assassinate an American citizen and Khalistani activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, on American soil. This resulted in the expulsion of Research & Analysis Wing station heads from the US – a first since the Indian external spy agency’s formation.
However, US officials said Biden, who visited India for the G20 summit in October, was unlikely to visit the country twice within such a short span of time, especially because the US presidential election is less than 11 months away. Biden is the presidential pick for the Democratic Party in the country. Although Garcetti didn’t mention about the Quad summit when he revealed about New Delhi’s invitation to Biden, in November, the Indian foreign ministry said India would host a meeting of the Quad leaders “early next year”.
So far, Barack Obama was the only US president to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade. Former US president, Donald Trump, had turned down an invitation to be the chief day for the same event in 2019. India then had to invite the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to be the chief guest for the parade.
Now, with the Quad summit postponed, if it is to be held in India, it would be held only after the 2024 Lok Sabha election and formation of the new government. This means, it can now be held only after June 2024, when the new government settles down.
