US president Biden, Japanese PM Kishida to meet virtually on 21 Jan to discuss Covid, Quad

US president Joe Biden joins the White House Covid-19 Response Team’s regular call with the National Governors Association to discuss his administration’s response to the Omicron variant and to hear from the Governors on the needs in their States at the White House in Washington, DC on 27 December 2021
AFP

US president Joe Biden and Japanese prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet virtually Friday, 21 January, to discuss bilateral ties as well as security in the Pacific region, the White House said.

On the agenda will be fighting Covid-19 and climate change and exploring new technologies, according to a statement Sunday from the White House.

"The meeting will highlight the strength of the US-Japan Alliance, which is the cornerstone of peace, security, and stability in the Indo-Pacific and around the world," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in the statement.

Japan`s then-foreign minister Fumio Kishida offers flowers to coffins containing bodies of Japanese nationals killed in a restaurant attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh, after its flight from Bangladesh at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan on 5 July 2016.
Reuters file photo

"President Biden looks forward to working with prime minister Kishida to advance our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific," the Psaki said, adding that the two will discuss issues pertaining to the "Quad," the alliance formed among the United States, Japan, India and Australia which seeks to counter China's growing influence in Asia.

Biden and Kishida met in person during the COP26 climate summit in Scotland last year and previously spoke by telephone when Kishida was elected in October.