Parting shot
The outgoing Biden Administration’s authorisation for Ukraine to carry out long-range missile strikes against Russian targets using US weaponry signals a significant escalation in the on-going conflict.
US President Joe Biden is not visiting India as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in January 2024 and the Quad summit of leaders of India, Japan, Australia and the US, which was to be held around that time, has also been postponed, sources said on Tuesday.
”We are looking for revised dates for Quad meet as the dates that were being considered do not suit other Quad partners,” sources added.
India had invited President Biden to be the chief guest at the Republic Day as part of its plans to host the next Quad Summit. The invitation had been personally extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their bilateral meeting on the margins of the G20 Summit in September in New Delhi.
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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had confirmed in November that India would host a Quad leaders’ meeting “early next year”.
US Ambassador Eric Garcetti publicly acknowledged that New Delhi had extended an invitation to President Biden.
Sources said various revised dates were now under consideration. However, the summit is now likely to be held only in the second half of the next year since the country will soon go into election mode for the Lok Sabha polls in April-May.
The postponement of the Quad summit has come at a time when the US is investigating an alleged plot to assassinate a ‘Khalistan’ supporter on American soil. Since an Indian official is allegedly involved in planning the plot, the Indian government is also probing inputs shared by US agencies.
Sources, however, refused to draw any link between postponement of the Quad meet and the investigations into the plot.
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