Biden, other Quad leaders to meet virtually amid Ukraine war

By ASHOK SHARMA
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India, Australia and Japan will talk Thursday in a virtual meeting of the Indo-Pacific alliance known as the Quad that comes a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine. India’s External Affairs Ministry says the leaders will “exchange views and assessments about important developments in the Indo-Pacific.” The U.S., Australia and Japan voted at the U.N. General Assembly to demand Moscow withdraw its troops from Ukraine, while India abstained from Wednesday’s vote. Biden and the other leaders — India’s Narendra Modi, Australia’s Scott Morrison and Japan’s Fumio Kishida — are also grappling with China, which the Quad countries have accused of economic coercion and unsettling military maneuvering.