Quad leaders to tackle ‘key challenges’ at White House summit

Leaders of US, India, Australia and Japan gather at the White House as Biden pushes to boost Indo-Pacific alliances.

US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan, Australia and India are expected to announce several joint initiatives, including efforts to combat climate change and address the COVID pandemic in the first in-person summit for the Quad Indo-Pacific alliance.

The meeting on Friday aimed to cement the partnership amid global challenges and growing competition with China in the Indo-Pacific region.

At the start of the meeting, Biden announced a fellowship programme to allow students from the four countries to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at United States universities.