NB Explains | G20 Summit: PM Modi to hold more than 15 bilateral meetings with world leaders

New Delhi, Sept 8: Ahead of the significant G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold more than 15 bilateral meetings with global leaders during the G20 Summit in New Delhi.

 

On Friday, he is expected to meet Pravind Jugnauth, the prime minister of Mauritius, and Bangladesh’s PM Sheikh Hasina. He will also hold a much anticipated bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden. The meetings with Biden and Hasina are likely to attract particular attention.

  

It should be noted that Bangladesh is headed for polls next year, which is strategically significant for India given its close relationship with Sheikh Hasina. The Opposition there, Bangladesh National Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, is perceived to be unfriendly to India’s interests.

 

 

The meeting with Biden will be focussed on defence technology, given that US Congress has approved the General Electric-HAL fighter jet engine deal. The project is expected to see significant transfer of technology to India.

 

“It will be an opportunity to follow up on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States and we will see meaningful process on a number of issues like the GE jet engine issue, the MQ-9 Reapers, on 5G, 6G, on collaboration in critical and emerging technologies and progress also in the civil nuclear area as well. So we will mark all of that progress when the two of them meet tomorrow which shows the breadth of the relationship between our countries," said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

 

On the 9 September, PM Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the UK, Japan, Germany and Italy. This will be British prime minister Rishi Sunak’s first visit to India since he took office in late 2022. Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida, Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni have all visited India already this year.

 

 

On September 10, PM Modi has scheduled a working lunch meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. He will also have an informal meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Additionally, he will engage in bilateral discussions with leaders from Comoros, Turkey, South Korea, the UAE, Nigeria, Brazil, the European Union, and the European Council.

 

 

India is hosting the G20 Leaders Summit at the newly inaugurated Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi on September 9-10. World leaders have started arriving in India to attend the G20 Summit.

 

So far, Mauritius Prime Minister Argentina President Alberto Angel Fernandez, World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, European Council President Charles Michel, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Nigeria President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and several other leaders have arrived in India for the G20 Summit.

 

This is the first time that the G20 Summit is taking place under India’s presidency. Formed in 1999, the G20 was set up to maintain global financial stability by incorporating middle-income countries.

 

India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 last year and about 200 meetings related to G20 were organized in 60 cities across the country. The 18th G20 Summit in New Delhi will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies.

 

A G20 Leaders’ declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the G20 Summit, stating Leaders’ commitment towards the priorities discussed and agreed upon during the respective ministerial and working group meetings. The next G20 presidency is going to be taken over by Brazil in 2024, followed by South Africa in 2025.