Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Washington this month to participate in the Quad Leaders’ Summit with his counterparts from Japan, the US and Australia, where the four will review the Covid-19 vaccine initiative launched in March this year.

Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joseph will also take up progress made in various areas since their first virtual Summit on March 12, 2021 and discuss regional issues of shared interest in their meeting on September 24, according to an official release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Indian PM is scheduled to address the general debate of the High-Level Segment of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2021 in New York, the release added. The theme this year is ‘Building Resilience through hope to recover from Covid-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalise the United Nations.

Under the Quad vaccine initiative, India, the US, Japan and Australia had decided to pool financing, manufacturing and distribution capacity to send 1 billion Covid-19 vaccines across Asia by the end of 2022.

Quad is a new alliance established by the four countries to promote their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, and is also perceived by many analysts as a group to counter China’s growing economic and political might in the region.

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