White House highlights Quad achievements, eyes progress under India's host year

WASHINGTON DC: The White House on Wednesday emphasised the significant strides made by the Quad Alliance over the past three years and also underscored the importance of continuing this momentum into 2024, particularly under India's host year.

In a press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre addressed the upcoming anniversary of the Quad, expressing President Biden's pride in the progress and the shared vision of a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

"So, I would say this, the president is incredibly proud of the progress the Quad has made over the past three years. To your point, the anniversary is coming up, and we are hoping to continue that momentum in 2024 under India's host year, as you just stated. And we're talking about not just the United States but, obviously, India, Japan, and Australia, and we all have a shared vision here, of a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Pierre said. The Quad, consisting of the United States, India, Japan, and Australia, aims to deliver concrete benefits across critical sectors for the Indo-Pacific region.

"The Quad is helping all of our nations deliver concrete benefits to the Indo-Pacific across several critical, important sectors. So we look forward to continuing that progress for the Quad in 2024, not just in 2024, but also beyond," she added. Switching focus to the I2U2 initiative, Pierre reiterated its critical importance and President Biden's deep commitment to advancing innovative, inclusive, and science-based solutions.

The initiative aims to address challenges related to food and energy security, space operations, water conservation, waste management, and other ventures. The I2U2 Group is a grouping of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. "I2U2 remains critically important, and the president is deeply committed to making sure that we continue with I2U2, obviously with our partnership among our four countries and beyond through innovative, inclusive, and science-based solutions to advance and not to enhance food and energy security, space operation and other ventures, advancing projects on water conservation, waste management in other areas," she also said. Pierre emphasised that I2U2 remains a priority and assured a strong future for the partnership, dispelling any notion that it has taken a back burner.

"So there is a strong future for I2U2. We're looking forward to continuing that partnership, which has not taken a back burner. It certainly continues to be a priority." Addressing concerns about the H1B visa process, Pierre highlighted recent actions taken by the administration to improve the system. She noted that a final rule relating to H1B visas had been published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last month.

"If we look at the H1B visa process, we have taken action to improve that and the process and back laws for lawful permanent residents who are eligible to become US citizens. Just last month, for example, as a part of our efforts to strengthen the integrity of our immigration system and reduce the potential for fraud, DHS published a final rule relating to H1B visas," the White House press secretary said.

According to Pierre, the changes aim to promote fairer and more equitable outcomes while strengthening the integrity of the immigration system and reducing the potential for fraud. "The changes promote fairer and more equitable outcomes, and so we will continue our work to improve the system within our authorities, and that has certainly been a priority.

Obviously, I would refer you to US Citizens and Immigration Services for any specifics on the actions that we have taken, but we take that very seriously, and we're continuing to do everything that we can to improve the visa process," she added.