New Delhi: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said a Quad summit would not go ahead in Sydney next week without Joe Biden, hours after US President postponed his trip to Australia due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington. Albanese, however, said the leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 in Hiroshima this weekend. India and Australia are not part of the G7 group of seven rich nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – but have been invited to attend the summit in Japan, which is scheduled to be held between May 19 and May 21.

“The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. We, though will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan,” Anthony Albanese told a news conference.

A bilateral programme in Sydney with Prime Minister Narendra Modi could still go ahead next week, he added.

“We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. We’ll make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week,” the Australian PM said.

In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the ‘Quad’ to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence amid China’s aggressive behaviour in the region.

Joe Biden cancels Australia leg of his Asia trip due US debt ceiling

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that he will postpone the Australia leg of his Asia trip, along with that of Papua New Guinea, given the uncertainty and intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party to ensure that America does not default on its debt for the first time in history.

Biden has been forced to turn his attention to domestic politics, as he works to hash out a deal with Republicans to prevent the US from defaulting on its debts at the end of this month.