Quad to discuss China ahead of PM-Xi's likely presence at SCO

New Delhi is hosting a Senior Officers' Meeting on 5 and 6 September.

- T. BRAJESH

Ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit on 15-16 September in Samarkand, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to come face to face with China's President Xi Jinping, New Delhi is ready to host an official-level meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), a grouping consisting of India, the United States, Japan and Australia. The meeting, which is called Senior Officers' Meeting (SOM), is not going to be any ordinary and customary discussion session for top officials of the member countries of the grouping, but will give the participating officers an opportunity to delve deeper into the issues related to China's growing aggression in the Indo-Pacific and other geographies, top diplomatic sources told The Sunday Guardian. One of the top agendas for the upcoming interactive session is going to be Chinese belligerence. Economic matters, global food security, health security, Covid-19 challenges, Ukraine war, etc., will be the other key issues which will also be discussed.