Australian leader says Quad meeting will anchor stability
Associated PressCANBERRA, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday his first-ever meeting with President Joe Biden as well as the leaders of India and Japan will become an anchor of stability in the Indo-Pacific region. For us, this is where we live, this is where Japan lives, where India lives and of course with United States across the Pacific has had a long-term presence, so this is about an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and that benefits all nations of the Indo-Pacific,” Morrison told reporters. “This is about ensuring that we can trade more easily and peacefully, that there is freedom of movement within the seas and the overflight of the area to ensure that there is facilitation, trade and movement across our great region and before these four nations, liberal democracies, standing up for our values, coming together and ensuring that we are an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” he added. “That President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we’ve placed on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.