Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], October 27 (ANI): Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday said that the Quad leaders' summit, involving Australia, the United States, Japan, and India, will be held in the first quarter of 2026, after previously expected plans for India to host in 2025 were delayed.

Albanese highlighted the Quad's importance for regional cooperation during his visit to Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forum.

'The Quad is an important forum and an important vehicle for us to engage Australia, the United States, Japan and India. I'm hopeful that there will be a meeting in the first quarter, I would hope, of next year. Prime Minister Modi is due to host the Quad meeting,' Albanese told reporters at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

A joint statement released between India and the US during the working visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2025 said that PM Modi looks forward to hosting President Trump in New Delhi for the Quad leaders' Summit this year. However, the summit was later postponed amidst strains between India and the US.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a strategic forum of the United States, India, Australia, and Japan aimed at a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Quad came together during the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean region to coordinate response and assistance to countries in the region. The first meeting of Quad officials took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum summit in the Philippines in May 2007. After a gap of 10 years, Quad officials met in Manila in November 2017 on the margins of the East Asia Summit.

The first Quad Leaders' Summit was held virtually on March 12, 2021, followed by the second Quad Leaders' Summit (the first in person) on September 24, 2021, in Washington, DC. The third Quad Leaders' Summit was held virtually on March 3, 2022, to discuss the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the Indo-Pacific. The fourth Quad Leaders' Summit (second in-person) was hosted by Japan on May 24, 2022. Following this, the fifth Quad Leaders' Summit (third in-person) was held in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 20, 2023. Prime Minister Modi participated in the sixth Quad Leaders' Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, on September 21, 2024.

Meanwhile, Albanese participated in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Malaysian capital, which began on October 26. Leaders and representatives of China, Russia, Japan, India, Australia, and New Zealand are attending the ASEAN-related summits. Brazilian President Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are participating as observers. Ramaphosa is the Guest of the Chair at the 47th ASEAN Summit and the East Asian Summit.

The Australian Prime Minister termed Southeast Asia as one of the fastest-growing regions in the world and emphasised the 'proximity of opportunity' to Australia as opposed to the 'tyranny of distance' in its markets in the United Kingdom, in the United States and in Europe.

'Now we speak about the proximity of opportunity. And that is what Southeast Asia represents for us. That is what living right near the fastest growing region of the world in human history represents for us. An opportunity to grow jobs, to grow our economy, to diversify our markets and our trade to succeed in Australia, which is the basis of why I am here,' Albanese said as per a readout of the press conference.

'We're working to be not just neighbours or observers, but participants and investors here in the region,' he said.

He said that on Monday morning, Australia announced two major investments under the Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility.

'Today, we announced $175 million in IFM Investors' Asia Pacific debt fund. IFM, of course, represent at least 15 superannuation companies. What that will do is provide that pool of funding for investment here in Southeast Asia. And $50 million US in Plenary's new Southeast Asia Public Private Partnership Investment Fund - together, these investments represent a major step forward in my government's delivery on that Southeast Asia Economic Strategy. It's a quarter of a billion dollars to kick start Australian investments in the region, support the growth of Australian companies and deliver jobs back home,' Albanese said. (ANI)