By David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A first in-person meeting of the leaders of the Quad group of countries – the United States, Japan, Australia and India – on Friday will yield progress in several areas including infrastructure, health and cyber, a senior U.S administration official told Reuters.

According to a senior U.S. administration official, Joe Biden (the U.S. president), Yoshihide Sauga, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide, and Scott Morrison (the Australian prime minister) will be discussing regional security. He stressed however that this is not the primary focus of the informal group that was formed in response China’s rising power.

Although he declined to identify himself, the White House summit will “have much to talk” about the next steps for vaccines in the Indo-Pacific.

“We call these deliverables in Infrastructure, for broader health engagements, science and technology on space, as well cyber,” he stated.

A March virtual meeting between the Quad leaders to provide a million COVID-19 shot across Asia by 2022 was “important,” he said.

There have been many challenges in India during the summer. We believe it is important to achieve the goals we set at that point.

Following a catastrophic surge in infections, India, which is the biggest producer of vaccines, halted vaccine exports from March.

India said that they are ready to restart vaccine exports for the October quarter. They will prioritise the COVAX international vaccin initiative and the neighboring countries.

A week and a half after Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States announced AUKUS, an international security agreement that will allow Australia to purchase U.S. nuclear powered submarines. China immediately opposed the move.

A U.S. official described Friday’s meeting as “historic,” and a chance for all four leaders to openly discuss modern challenges, hopes and aspirations.

His statement said, “We will talk about many things, including regional safety, but also about our goals for education and on infrastructure.”

He said that the strengthening and linking of our four nations is happening right in front of our eyes. What we really want to do is allow for more open-ended discussion.

He also said that the Quad could be related to AUKUS’ partnership, but that it was a separate group. It has nothing to do the newly inaugurated AUKUS. It is an informal organization. This group does not deal with security concerns.

The official said Biden would announce on Friday an “elite” privately funded Quad fellowship program for 100 students – 25 from each of the four countries – to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) masters and doctoral programs in the United States.

The official compared it to the Rhodes Scholarship program in Britain. He said that the Schmidt Futures Philanthropies would manage the fellowship, which was founded by Eric Schmidt, former chief executive officer of Google (NASDAQ.:).

He stated that it would “really seek to link our countries for the long-term by connecting our youth, and they will have a feeling of purpose and realize that the Quad grouping is truly unique and important.”