The first meeting of the leaders of the countries part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad could take place as early as this month, reports say.

The Biden administration, having put out an ‘interim guidance’ on national security earlier this week, has taken the initiative to set up the first meeting between the Prime Ministers of India, Japan and Australia and the President of the United States, a report in the Hindustan Times says.

The confirmation of the meeting, which will take place virtually, came from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who told reporters in Sydney today (5 March) that the Quad “will become a feature of Indo-Pacific engagement”.

“It will be four leaders, four countries, working together constructively for the peace, prosperity and stability of the Indo-Pacific,” Morrison said, without giving details on the timing of the talks between the leaders of Quad countries.

“So, I am looking forward to that first gathering of the Quad leaders. It will be the first ever such gathering,” Morrison added.

This development on Quad comes just a day after the Biden administration issued an ‘Interim National Security Strategic Guidance’.

The document says the US will deepen its partnership with India and engage with the Indo-Pacific to deal with the challenges in the region.

“...our vital national interests compel the deepest connection to the Indo-Pacific...,” it says, adding, “we will deepen our partnership with India...”

Biden’s guidance document says the US will “ support China’s neighbors” and work with “like-minded countries” to forge a common approach against China’s increasingly assertive and aggressive behaviour in the region.

It calls China the “only competitor” of the US which is potentially capable of using its “economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to mount a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system”.

The document was issued after Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered his first major speech underlining Biden’s foreign policy priorities.

Blinken called the US’ relationship with China the “biggest geopolitical test” of the 21st century. The US’ relationship with China, he said, “will be competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be and adversarial when it must be”.