News Desk
US President Joe Biden on Friday holds the first-ever four-way summit with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan, ramping up efforts to cement alliances.
In a flurry of diplomacy, Japan announced that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga would become the first foreign leader to see Biden in person, a sign of the primacy the new US leader attaches to allies.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin are also paying a joint visit next week to both Japan and South Korea on their first foreign travel, with Austin continuing on to India.
Friday’s four-way summit, while virtual, will mark the first time that leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia have met together following more than a decade of meetings at lower levels of the so-called “Quad”.
