Modi thanked Biden for his support for strengthening the India-US partnership and expressed confidence that both countries would continue to maintain close coordination during India’s G-20 Presidency…reports Asian Lite News
Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Bali on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden expressed satisfaction about the close cooperation between India and US in new groupings such as the Quad, and I2U2.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), they reviewed the continuing deepening of the India – US strategic partnership including cooperation in future oriented sectors like critical and emerging technologies, advanced computing, artificial intelligence, etc.
“Happy to have met @POTUS @JoeBiden at the @g20org Summit in Bali. We had fruitful exchanges on key issues,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted.
During the meeting, the two leaders discussed topical global and regional developments, the PMO added.
Modi thanked President Biden for his constant support for strengthening the India-US partnership. He expressed confidence that both countries would continue to maintain close coordination during India’s G-20 Presidency.
India’s energy security important for global growth
Maintaining that India’s energy security was important for global growth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a strong pitch against restrictions on the supply of energy.
Addressing the Bali G20 Summit in the backdrop of the continuing conflict in Ukraine, Prime Minister Modi said that stability in the energy market should be ensured.
“India’s energy security is also important for global growth, as it is the world’s fastest-growing economy. We must not promote any restrictions on the supply of energy and stability in the energy market should be ensured,” Modi said in his address during ‘Session I: Food and Energy Security’.
India has faced criticism from some Western nations for its decision to purchase Russian oil after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February this year. India has, however, strongly defended it’s decision to do so, saying it has to look after its national interest first.
At the G20 Summit, Prime Minister also reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“I have repeatedly said that we have to find a way to return to the path of ceasefire and diplomacy in Ukraine. Over the past century, the Second World War wreaked havoc in the world. After that, the leaders of that time made a serious effort to take the path of peace. Now it’s our turn,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
“The onus of creating a new world order for the post-Covid period lies on our shoulders. The need of the hour is to show concrete and collective resolve to ensure peace, harmony and security in the world,” he added.
Prime Minister Modi expressed the hope that when the G20 meets in the holy land of Buddha and Gandhi next year, “we will all agree to convey a strong message of peace to the world’.
India will assume the G20 Presidency from December 1 this year.
Prime Minister Modi also spoke about the need to ensure adequate supply chains as far as food and fertilisers are concerned.
Climate change, the Covid pandemic, and the developments in Ukraine had caused “havoc” in the world, he said.
“Global supply chains are in ruins. There is a crisis of essentials, essential goods all over the world. The challenge for the poor citizens of every country is more severe. Everyday life was already a struggle for them. They do not have the financial capacity to deal with the double whammy,” he noted.
Multilateral institutions such as the UN have been unsuccessful on these issues, PM Modi went on to say, adding that suitable reforms had not been carried out. “Therefore, today the world has greater expectations from the G-20, the relevance of our group has become more significant,” he remarked.
In first since Galwan, Modi, Xi shake hands
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands and spoke briefly at a formal dinner for G20 leaders in Bali on Tuesday—their first face-to-face encounter in public since the start of the military standoff in Ladakh more than two years ago.
Footage from the Indonesian presidential secretariat’s official YouTube channel showed Modi seated and conversing with US secretary of state Antony Blinken when Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan stopped nearby to speak with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Modi was seen getting up from his seat and shaking hands with Xi, who smiled.
Modi, flanked by an interpreter, then spoke to Xi for a few minutes.
Both leaders, who were wearing batik shirts, were soon joined by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar.
Several people gathered around the two leaders and began capturing the moment with their mobile phone cameras.
There was no word from Indian officials on the encounter at Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park. There was also no readout from the Chinese side.
A person familiar with the matter said: “Prime minister and President Xi, who were both attending the G20 dinner hosted by the Indonesian president, exchanged courtesies at the conclusion of the dinner.”
The Indian and Chinese leaders avoided each other the last time they were at an in-person multilateral meeting—the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit at Samarkand in Uzbekistan during 15-16 September.
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