Sharjah24 – Reuters: U.S. President Joe Biden will host a first in-person summit of leaders of the "Quad" countries - Australia, India, Japan and the United States - which have been seeking to enhance cooperation to push back against China's growing assertiveness.

The summit will be held at the White House in Washington on Sept. 24, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. The U.S. visits of the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan - Scott Morrison, Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga - will coincide with the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which Biden will address on Sept. 21.

A virtual meeting of the Quad leaders was held in March and they pledged to work closely on COVID-19 vaccines and climate and to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of challenges from Beijing.

Biden's Indo-Pacific coordinator, Kurt Campbell, said in July the long-planned in-person meeting should bring "decisive" commitments on vaccine diplomacy and infrastructure.

Biden, who is pushing big infrastructure spending at home, said in March he had suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that democratic countries should have an infrastructure plan to rival China's massive Belt and Road Initiative, which involves projects from East Asia to Europe.