Biden welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a four-way meeting near his Delaware hometown on Saturday to stress the importance of maintaining the Quad, which he sees as a signature foreign policy achievement, before he leaves office after the November 5 US presidential election.
Leaders from the four nations were rolling out plans to expand an Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness launched two years ago to include the Indian Ocean region, senior Biden administration officials said.
Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden had a one-on-one meeting at the president's home in Delaware. (Supplied by Pmo/AAP PHOTOS)
The leaders are planning joint coast guard operations that will see Australian, Japanese and Indian personnel spend time on a US coast guard vessel. The countries also plan increased military logistics cooperation, the officials said.
While the White House said the Quad summit was directed at no other country and that Beijing should find no issue with the initiative, Biden started the summit's group session with a briefing on China.
He described the country as shifting tactics, but not strategy, while continuing to test the United States in the South China and East China Seas as well as the Taiwan Strait.
"We believe (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimise the turbulence in China diplomatic relationships, and he's also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China's interest," Biden said in remarks carried on an official event feed.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including territory inside exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It also claims territories in the East China Sea contested by Japan and Taiwan. China also views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory.
Xi has objected to the Quad grouping, seeing it as an effort to encircle Beijing and ramp up conflict.
Holding talks at the president's house was intended to give the meetings a more relaxed feel. (AP PHOTO)
Analysts said new maritime security initiatives would send a message to Beijing. They said it also represents a further shift of emphasis of the Quad's activities to security issues, reflecting growing concerns about China's intentions.
The leaders are also stepping up work to provide critical and security technologies, including a new open radio access network, to the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia, regions of intense competition with China.
A health initiative by the leaders is aimed at combating cervical cancer, officials said.
Lisa Curtis, an Asia policy expert at the Center for a New American Security, and a former administration official, said India, which is not part of any military alliance, has been worried about perceptions that the Quad could be militarising the Indo-Pacific.
"But I think China's recent maritime aggression could be changing the equation for India and could be prompting India to become a bit more open to the idea of Quad security co-operation," she said.
Analysts and officials say Biden hosting the Quad is part of efforts to institutionalise the body ahead his departure from office and that of Kishida, who is stepping down after a leadership contest next week and elections in Australia by next year.
Asked about the group's staying power, Biden grasped Modi by the shoulder and said the group was here to stay.
The Quad met at foreign minister level under the previous administration of Donald Trump, who is running against Vice President Kamala Harris in November, and enjoyed bipartisan support, as reflected by the formation of a congressional Quad Caucus ahead of the summit.
Biden elevated the Quad to the leader level in 2021.Â
