Second Meeting of Quad Leaders to Be Held in September 2022, Japanese Foreign Minister Says
14:06 GMT 21.11.2021 (Updated: 14:08 GMT 21.11.2021)
© AFP 2023 / OLIVIER DOULIERY
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TOKYO (Sputnik) - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Sunday that he expects Japan to host the next Quadrilateral Security Dialogue summit with leaders of the United States, Australia and India in September 2022.
"Only September. This year the meeting was held in September, and since it was decided to hold it annually from now on, I believe that the next one will also be in September", the minister told the Fuji TV channel after one of the hosts hypothesised that the next meeting might take place in coming spring.
The Quad partners have just begun to coordinate the event and there is no definitive agreement either on the venue or on the exact dates for it yet, Hayashi noted.
The Kyodo news agency reported earlier, citing sources, that the second meeting of the Quad leaders could take place in Japan in spring. Ensuring economic security and opposing "China's growing hegemonism" are expected to be on the agenda, according to the report.
The first top-level Quad meeting took place online in March, while the first in-person meeting was held in September in the United States.
In this Sept. 3, 2015, file photo, Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles, potentially capable of sinking a U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in a single strike, pass by Tiananmen Gate during a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing. China’s military test-fired two missiles into the South China Sea, including a “carrier killer” military analysts suggest might have been developed to attack U.S. forces, a newspaper reported Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020.
© AP Photo / Andy Wong
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is an informal security pact between the United States, Australia, India and Japan. It aims to create "a shared vision for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific" and to address the growing Chinese influence in the region.
