(AFP) – US President Joe Biden hosted Australia’s prime minister at his Delaware home Friday, at the start of a weekend summit with the so-called “Quad” group he has pushed as a counterweight to China. Biden chose his hometown of Wilmington for a summit of leaders from Australia, India, and Japan — the last of his presidency after he dropped out of the 2024 election against Donald Trump and handed the Democratic campaign reins to Kamala Harris.
After a one-on-one meeting at his property with Australia’s Anthony Albanese on Friday night, he will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at his beloved house on Saturday. Biden will then host an “intimate” dinner and full four-way summit that day at his former high school in the city.
“This will be President Biden’s first time hosting foreign leaders in Wilmington as president — a reflection of his deep personal relationships with each of the Quad Leaders,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. Vice President Harris will not be attending, the White House said. The Quad grouping dates back to 2007, but Biden has strongly pushed it as part of an emphasis on international alliances after the isolationist Trump years.
China was expected to feature heavily in their discussions amid tensions with Beijing, particularly a series of recent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea. During their one-on-one on Friday, Biden and Albanese “discussed their respective diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and their shared concerns about the PRC’s coercive and destabilizing activities,” the White House said in a statement.
The White House faced criticism for giving only limited access to the press throughout the weekend, with reporters questioning whether it was at the request of the notoriously media-shy Modi. The Hindu nationalist was coaxed to take two questions during a state visit to the White House in 2023 but had not held an open press conference at home in his previous nine years in power.
The White House insisted Biden would not shy away from addressing rights issues with Modi, who has faced accusations of growing authoritarianism. “There’s not a conversation that he has with foreign leaders where he doesn’t talk about the importance of respecting human and civil rights, and that includes with Prime Minister Modi,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated.
India is due to host the next Quad summit in 2025. Biden is famously proud of his home in Wilmington, around 110 miles (176 kilometers) from Washington, and he frequently spends weekends there away from the confines of the White House. It hit the headlines when classified documents were found in its garage, next to his Corvette sports car, in 2022. Biden was not charged.
– Brendan Smialowski with Danny Kemp in Washington
© 2024 AFP
