India, US To Swap Quad Summit Hosting

The United States and India have ‘swapped’ hosting the Quad Summit in order for U.S. President Joseph Biden to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan in his home state of Delaware, according to the sources. 

This confirmed that the summit will take place in the United States later this month instead of India. 

They stated that India would host the Quad Summit in 2025, implying that either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, the incoming American president, would travel to India in 2019.
 

The meeting will take place in Biden's home state of Delaware on 21 September.

PM Modi will speak at a diaspora gathering themed ‘Modi and U.S. Progress Together’ at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York, on 22 September.

He will also be present at the United Nations for the ‘Summit of the Future’ on 22-23 September. In the meantime, Modi will not remain to deliver the previously announced speech to the UN General Assembly on 26 September possibly due to his early departure for the US. 

S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, will speak in the General Debate on 28 September, as per a revised provisional schedule of speakers released by the UN. 

The decision to swap the Quad Summit was made, according to official sources, during a meeting of the Quad ‘sous sherpas,’ the officials tasked with negotiating the arrangements earlier this month. 

It was also determined following discussions between Prime Minister Modi and the leaders of the US and Australia. The US has now opted to host the Summit, which will take place on a Saturday, although India had previously intended to host it in New York on the fringes of the UN proceedings. On weekends, Biden makes the trip from Washington to his Rehoboth Beach residence.

The Quad partners conferred and decided that the United States and India would switch host years once it became apparent that this year's Quad Summit would take place in the United States during the UN General Assembly, according to a person aware of this matter.

"This gives President Biden the opportunity to host the Summit in his last year as President, and gives India the opportunity to host in 2025, giving PM Modi the chance to host Quad Leaders in India the following year," the source sadi.