Supporting Covid vaccination rollouts is expected to top the agenda at a leaders meeting of the Quad on Friday.

It will be the first meeting of all four Quad leaders since the US, Japan, Australia and India first formed the group in 2007.

The group is often regarded as a counterweight to China’s growing assertiveness in Asia.

However, the White House has indicated that traditional security concerns might take a back seat at the meeting.

“We anticipate the meeting discussing a range of the crises we’re facing as a global community — from Covid, to climate, economic cooperation,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

The leaders are expected to announce new financing agreements to support an increase in manufacturing capacity for vaccines in India, a senior US administration official told Reuters.

The financing agreements will focus on companies and institutions in India manufacturing vaccines for American drugmakers Novavax and Johnson & Johnson.

The aim would be to reduce manufacturing backlogs, speed up vaccinations and defeat some coronavirus mutations.

"The leaders will discuss regional and global issues of shared interest, and exchange views on practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region," an announcement from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office said.

What is the Quad?

The Quad, which is shorthand for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is an informal strategic forum for the four nations.

Although it was formed in 2007, it was on hiatus for nearly a decade after Australia’s then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd withdrew Australia in 2008.

The group was resuscitated in late 2017 as the Trump administration ramped up confrontation with Beijing.

The group has held semi-regular meetings, but this is the first time all four national leaders have met.

Although the group is often regarded as an effort to contain China's growing ambitions, official statements leading up to Friday’s meeting appear to have said little about the country.

Nevertheless, Chinese state media has criticised the group.

The Global Times quoted Chinese experts who suggested that the Quad members are likely to follow their own interests above the interest of the group, rendering the alliance an “empty talk club”.

Even discussion of vaccines could bring the group’s interests into competition with Chinese diplomatic initiatives.

China is also engaged in what some have described as vaccine diplomacy, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the country has donated or will donate vaccines to 69 developing countries in urgent need, and is exporting vaccines to 43 countries.