By Reena Bhardwaj
Wilmington (Delaware) [US], September 21 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other world leaders will arrive in Wilmington on Saturday morning (local time) for the Quad Summit in US President Joe Biden's hometown, Delaware.
Biden is hosting the leaders of India, Australia, and Japan and will hold bilateral meetings with them.
The gathering will be the first time that Joe Biden, as President, has ever asked a foreign leader to visit Wilmington, a reflection of his closeness with each dignitary: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Biden has also received each of the three Prime Ministers to the White House for official state visits, an honour reserved for the closest allies.
It will be the sixth time the leaders have all met -- the fourth time in person -- since Biden promoted the "Quad" to the leader level in 2021. This summit would mark Biden's final summit of the "Quad," an alliance he decided to elevate during his first year in office.
With the hometown summit, the White House hopes to project a strong alliance with Indo-Pacific partners, especially at a time when countering China's rising influence is a top priority for the Biden administration.
During both group discussions and individual conversations this weekend, Biden is likely to proudly showcase his home, known by aides as "Lake House" because of the manmade lake on its grounds. He expects to share with them significant milestone moments during his career that have been marked there, including where he learned four years ago that he had been elected president.
The main Quad gathering will take place at Archmere Academy, the private Catholic school Biden attended in Claymont, Delaware. This will include a leaders-level meeting, the Cancer Moonshot event and a private dinner, the White House said.
"President Biden asked that the historic Patio on the campus of his high school alma mater, Archmere Academy, be the site of the Quad Leaders' Summit, with leaders from Australia, India, and Japan," a school spokesperson said in a statement
Biden specifically wanted to incorporate "personal touches" at the two-day event, emphasising the importance of "deep personal relationships" as central to his foreign policy approach, a senior White House official said.
As Biden turns to his own hometown diplomacy this weekend, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said he's focused on "showing them a place and a community that shaped so much of the public servant and the leader that he became."
He added, "It's also a reflection of his belief that, like politics, foreign policy is also personal."
Originally, it was India's turn to hold the event this year, but when the dates appeared too close to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the US and India decided to swap responsibilities.
India is now scheduled to host the next summit in 2025, raising the possibility that Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother immigrated from India, would make a significant symbolic return if she is elected in November.