 the Quad as being an essential component. My first act one year ago, tomorrow indeed, was after being sworn in as Prime Minister was to fly to Tokyo to represent Australia in Japan at the second Quad leader summit. No, I will never forget the very warm and generous welcome that I had after my election. I can't think of any better way to begin a Prime Minister ship than a gathering of such important friends from our region. One year on I'm absolutely delighted to be amongst close friends again here in Japan to continue our important work standing together for an open stable secure and prosperous Indo Pacific region. A region where sovereignty is respected and all countries large and small benefit from a regional balance that keeps the peace. Respect for the leadership of regional institutions including ASEAN, the Pacific Island Forum and the Indian Ocean Rim Association is central to our approach and our vision statement that we will release tonight sets out the principles for our engagement in the region. Through the Quad's positive practical agenda we are taking action to address shared challenges. Together we are leveraging our collective strengths and offering support to the region which will be enhanced by the outcomes that we hope to agree on tonight. So thank you everyone for gathering and I will now hand to Prime Minister Modi for his opening comments. Your Excellencies. Prime Minister Albanizi, Prime Minister Kishida and President Biden. I am very pleased to be taking part in this Quad summit today and to be among friends. The Quad Group has established itself as an important platform for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo Pacific. There is no doubt at all about the fact that the Indo Pacific region is the engine for global trade, innovation and development. We agree that the security and success of the Indo Pacific is important not just for this region but for the entire world. We are moving forward with a constructive agenda based on shared democratic values. Through our shared efforts we are giving a practical dimension to our strategic technologies, reliable supply chain, health security, maritime security, counter terrorism, as well as in the important areas, our community is growing. Many countries and communities are supporting the Indo Pacific region and the Indo-Pacific region. Today, we will have the opportunity to discuss the entire region and people-centric issues related to development. I believe that the Quad will continue to continue to work towards peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. Prime Minister Albanisi, I congratulate and congratulate you on the success of this summit. We will be happy to have the Quad leader summit in India in 2024. Thank you very much. Well, thank you very much Prime Minister Modi. I will now turn to Prime Minister Kishida. Thank you very much. In confrontation, without striding together with regional countries, FOIP cannot be attained. We will listen to the voices of regional countries of the ASEAN, South Asia and Pacific Island states to engage in practical cooperation, which delivers true benefits to the region as a force for good. I hope today's discussion will give us another momentum to further spur our efforts. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much Prime Minister. I will now turn to President Biden. Well, gentlemen, Prime Minister Albanisi, especially for your impressive leadership of the Quad this year and your gracious flexibility in holding the meeting here again in Japan. The, you know, while our setting today is different than our mission remains the same, and that is to advance our vision of a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific and to demonstrate the capacity of democracy. And to demonstrate the capacity of democracies to deliver, to deliver on a shared region. I think people are going to look back at this, the Quad and God willing, 10, 20, 30 years now and say it changed the dynamic not only of the region but the world. And while, while the setting today is different, you know, in our last two years we made enormous progress, in my view. We're now launching a new initiative to keep that progress going from projects to build secure telecommunications in the Pacific region to strengthen our cooperation and submarine cables, new joint efforts between our private sectors to invest in infrastructure and clean energy projects in the region. And I'm also proud that of the work we've done with our partners, the ASEAN and Pacific Islands. A matter of fact, I was with one of our counterparts today at the larger meeting and he's part of the ASEAN countries, and he said, I think the Quad is a very good idea. Remember the beginning, it was how it was going to be greeted. And so it's, I feel good. I think a great deal of the future of our world is going to be written here in the Indo-Pacific. And together I think we're going to continue to ensure that the future provides more opportunity, prosperity and stability than anything else. So I want to thank you again for your strong partnership and friendship and I apologize again for the change in plans, but thank you for accommodating this and I look forward to our conversations tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. We will now move to a closed meeting. Mr. President, are you concerned about China's view of economic coercion? Again, the country does not like it. Mr. President, are you concerned about China's use of arbitrary views?