PM Modi to meet Trump, Abe, Macron on G20 sidelines
PM Modi will also join separate meetings of the Russia-India-China (RIC) and Japan-America-India (JAI) trilateral forums while attending the summit in Osaka during June 28-29, people familiar with developments said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral meetings with US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the first time after his re-election on the margins of the G20 summit in Japan this week.
Modi will also join separate meetings of the Russia-India-China (RIC) and Japan-America-India (JAI) trilateral forums while attending the summit in Osaka during June 28-29, people familiar with developments said. The inaugural meeting of JAI was held in Buenos Aires last year.
The Indian premier will hold some 10 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, including one with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Modi and Trump had agreed on the bilateral meeting when the US president called the Indian leader last month to congratulate him on his re-election.
Trump is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Abe, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin-Salman.
No agenda has been announced for the Modi-Trump meeting but the two leaders can be expected to discuss trade, which has emerged as the key irritant between the two sides that have otherwise seen growing convergence on a host of issues, including strategic ties with an emphasis on a free and open Indo-Pacific, defence cooperation and counter-terrorism.
Trade will be high on Trump’s agenda and a senior US administration official said there will be “tremendous focus” on issues such as “state-directed economic activity, IP theft, forced technology transfer…(and) tariffs and non-tariff barriers”.
The official added, “We believe the G20 economies need to work together to advance open, fair, and market-based digital policies, including the free flow of data.”
India wasn’t named though its proposed e-commerce and data localisation rules have been criticised by the US.
Former Union minister Suresh Prabhu would be India’s Sherpa at the meeting of the world’s top economies.
The issues under discussion at the summit will include free trade and economic growth, global economy, including taxation, finance, digital economy and artificial intelligence, inclusive and sustainable world, energy and environment, society 5.0, quality infrastructure, global health, aging, climate change, and marine plastic waste, Prabhu had said last week.
Talking about India’s agenda at the meeting, Prabhu said India will be discussing important issues such as energy security, financial stability, reforming multilateralism and WTO reform.
He had said issues such as return of fugitive economic offenders, terrorism, portable social security schemes, disaster-resilient infrastructure, as well as food security will also be raised by India. The summit will have four sessions — global economy: trade and investment; innovation in digital economy and artificial intelligence; addressing inequalities and realising and inclusive sustainable world; and climate change, energy and environment.
The G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US.