Quad Meetings Can Strengthen Bilateral Relationship

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is attending Quad talks in Australia today, firming up relations with Australia, India, and Japan.

• Japan was reportedly aggrieved by the recent White House meeting between President Biden and the Emir of Qatar. The Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was unable to secure an in-person summit and had to make do with a virtual summit last month.
• A strong relationship with Japan is essential to the US strategy for containing Chinese ambitions in the region so Blinken and Biden will be hoping meetings this week can repair damage done by the perceived snub.
• Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said: ‘There is no greater global partnership than what we are trying to accomplish through the Quad with Australia, India, and Japan [and] the Quad is a key component of US foreign economic and security policy in the Indo-Pacific region … It’s through this partnership that we’re strengthening the security environment in the region to push back against aggression and coercion.'
• Blinken will also be keen to improve India’s traditionally ambivalent relationship with the US. There will be optimism that tensions between India and China and an imperfect relationship with Russia can push India closer to the US.