Washington: US President Donald Trump will meet the leaders of the Quad countries in Manila during his upcoming visit to the Philippines, the White House said, placing the Indo-Pacific partnership on an itinerary that will also take him to China.
The meeting will bring the United States together with India, Japan and Australia. The White House outlined broad regional priorities for the discussions but did not announce specific agreements expected from them.
“In Manila, the President will participate in a multilateral meeting with Quad leaders to discuss shared interests of peace, prosperity, and security in the Indo-Pacific region,” White House Assistant Press Secretary Olivia Wales told reporters in a pre-trip briefing.
Wales described the Quad as a “partnership of action”, and said it was addressing regional challenges and creating opportunities for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The White House did not announce a separate meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the briefing. Nor did it provide a detailed Quad agenda beyond the regional priorities set out by Wales.
Trump is scheduled to leave Washington early Monday (local time) and arrive in Manila on Tuesday evening, local time, Wales said. The Quad meeting is listed ahead of a planned trade agreement signing with Thailand, a US-ASEAN special summit and a dinner with regional leaders.
On Wednesday, Trump is scheduled to attend a welcome ceremony at the Philippine presidential palace, followed by bilateral talks and a lunch banquet. Wales said the visit would include commercial deals and strategic investments involving American aviation, defence, energy and technology companies.
The President will then travel to Shenzhen for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ dinner. Meetings with APEC leaders and a bilateral meeting and working lunch with Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled for Thursday, Wales said.
Trump is also due to meet Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin for a discussion that will include nuclear weapons. A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration did not expect the three-way meeting to produce an agreement.
The Quad brings together Australia, India, Japan and the United States for cooperation on issues including maritime security, critical minerals, energy and disaster response.
The grouping’s foreign ministers met in Atlanta on October 31. Their joint statement welcomed a US commitment of $10 million to support infrastructure and facilities recovering critical minerals from waste in India and ASEAN countries, among other initiatives.
(IANS)
