Biden: Biden aims to reassure world on US debt standoff as he consults with Indo-Pacific leaders

HIROSHIMA: President Joe Biden tried on Saturday to reassure world leaders that the United States would not default as he consulted with the heads of Australia, Japan and India at a meeting of the so-called Quad Partnership that had been hastily postponed due to the debt-limit impasse in Washington.
Hoping to avoid an outcome that would rattle the global economy and prove a boon for Beijing, Biden opened his third day in Japan at the annual meeting of the Group of Seven of the world’s most powerful democracies with a briefing of its staff on the latest crises. and begins talks on how to raise the federal debt ceiling.
The president has also participated in meetings aimed at challenging China’s construction in the Indo-Pacific. Quad members originally planned to meet in Sydney next week, but instead met on the sidelines of the G7 so Biden could return to Washington earlier on Sunday in hopes of finalizing a deal to raise the borrowing limit America before the government ran out of cash to pay its bills.
Biden said he believes talks with GOP lawmakers are progressing.
“The first meetings weren’t that progressive, the second ones were, the third one was,” he said ahead of a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “And then what happens is the carriers go back to the directors and say, ‘This is what we’re thinking. And then people file new claims. I still believe we can avoid a default and do something decent.
Sign of a new negotiation session in Washington, food was brought into the negotiation room of the United States Capitol on Saturday morning, to be taken away a few hours later. No meeting was likely on Saturday, according to a person familiar with the status of the talks who was not authorized to publicly discuss the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The shortened trip reinforced a fundamental tension that shapes Biden’s presidency: As he struggled to signal to the world that the United States was reclaiming the mantle of global leadership, at key moments domestic dramas continue to get in the way.
Until Saturday, Biden had largely stayed away from the public at the summit, forgoing big public statements and leaving Friday’s chef’s dinner early. Instead, he spent time in front of a video monitor in a room next to his hotel suite, where aides in Washington kept him updated on the back and forth of the debt limit talks.
National Security Advisor JakeSullivan acknowledged that world leaders had pressured Biden over the impasse in Washington. But press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that while there was keen interest in how the president would resolve a domestic confrontation that has geopolitical ramifications, there was no panic – du least not yet.
“It’s not a hair on fire type situation,” she said.
On the sidelines of the summit, Biden held talks with Albanese instead of the now canceled visit to Australia. US officials said the trip would be postponed and Biden invited Albanese to Washington for a state visit.
Biden apologized for skipping Australia. Albanese said he understands the circumstances.
“I would have done the exact same thing,” he told Biden, adding, “I’m looking forward to the state visit.”
The leaders signed a pact pledging to deepen their partnership on the development of raw materials used in clean energy technologies – as they each seek to move supply away from reliance on China. They also released a joint statement outlining new areas of cooperation in space, trade and defence.
G7 leaders also sat down to discuss their infrastructure investments in less advanced economies, a key counterbalance to the loans and construction that China has provided. Biden said the United States has mobilized more than $30 billion in investments so far “and we’re just getting started.”
In a full evening meeting with all Quad leaders, Biden repeated his apologies for having to move their rally to Japan.
The president is sending US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to take his place at a summit of Pacific island nations in Papua New Guinea on Monday. This presidential stop was also removed in order to get Biden back to Washington more quickly.
Biden’s visit would have been the first by a US president to the country. These countries are being aggressively courted by the United States and China as the two powers vie for influence in parts of the world where shipping lanes are vital.
In Hiroshima, Biden and other world leaders agreed on a common framework to improve their own economic resilience – a recognition that high levels of trade with China have become more of a risk than an opportunity for economies. mature.
Sullivan said the G7 leaders recognized that “we seek to cooperate with China on issues of mutual interest. And also that we will work to address our significant concerns that we have with China in a range of areas.” He repeated a phrase often used by G7 leaders that the group seeks to “reduce risk, not decouple from China”.
Biden and the First Lady Jill Biden attended a dinner on Saturday for G7 leaders and other officials who took part in the summit.

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