New Delhi, May 22 (UNI) United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday said that significant security issues in the Indo-Pacific will come up during the Quad meeting and all of the Quad members share an interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Briefing media personnel ahead of the Quad Summit, Sullivan said that US President Joe Biden will have “distinct bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
“More broadly, the Biden administration is invested in working with allies and partners to send a clear message of deterrence and to support the basic policy of the Biden administration, which is a One China policy, the Three Joint Communiqués, and the Taiwan Relations Act, that we do not want to see unilateral changes to the status quo and we certainly don’t want to see military aggression,” said Sullivan.
When asked about concrete action plan on responding to China if it were to invade Taiwan and whether that action plan could include both military response and an economic response, Sullivan said that the issue won’t be part of the formal agenda of the Quad.
Sullivan also said that Taiwan won’t be part of the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
He said that IPEF will not be a security arrangement.
“It is an economic arrangement focused around the further integration of Indo-Pacific economies, setting of standards and rules, particularly in new areas like the digital economy, and also trying to ensure that there are secure and resilient supply chains. In that sense, maritime security is a relevant issue. But IPEF will not be negotiating out maritime security arrangements,” he said.
When asked whether President Biden going to push Prime Minister Narendra Modi on wheat exports, Sullivan said, “I will just say that food security will be a topic of conversation at the Quad.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed for Tokyo to take part in the second in-person Quad Summit. Prior to leaving, Modi said that the “Quad leaders will exchange views about developments in the Indo-Pacific region and global issues of mutual interest.”
