The two leaders also reiterated the importance of working through global forums such as the G20 – the presidency of which is held by India…reports Asian Lite News
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Joe Biden at Belfast in Northern Ireland on Wednesday during the US President’s historic visit to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.
During bilateral talks, dubbed by some in the British media as a “bi-latte” alluding to a rather brief discussion in a hotel cafe, Biden and Sunak are said to have covered the range of the “thriving” UK-US relationship.
The two leaders also reiterated the importance of working through global forums such as the G20 – the presidency of which is held by India at present.
“They agreed that manipulation of global markets by authoritarian leaders demonstrates, more than ever, the need for like-minded partners to work together to support the economic health and security of our nations,” said a Downing Street readout of the talks.
“They looked forward to discussing the issue of economic security further during the G7 Summit next month and the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington DC in June. They also agreed on the importance of using global forums like the G7 and G20 to challenge economic coercion and market manipulation, and promote the economic well-being of our countries,” it said.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Rishi Sunak at the Group of 20 summit in Bali and discussed ways to boost trade between the two countries.
It was the first meeting between Modi and Sunak, since he became British prime minister in October.
“They looked forward to the agreement of a UK-India free trade deal, which has the potential to unlock investment and increase jobs in both our countries, as well as expanding our deep cultural links,” Sunak’s office had said. Modi said “robust ties” with the United Kingdom were of great importance to India.
“We discussed ways to increase commercial linkages, raise the scope of security cooperation in context of India’s defence reforms and make people-to-people ties even stronger,” Modi had said on Twitter after the meeting.
In January, British High Commissioner to India Alexander Ellis said that India’s G20 Presidency was an “opportunity” to tell the story of a “new and modern India,” while also emphasizing that it has the potential to tackle some of the ‘world’s big problems’.
Ellis highlighted that India has the convincing power to bring together the fractured group of countries to work its way through and tackle the problems of today. “During India’s G20 Presidency, Amitabh Kant as G20 Sherpa is very ambitious and that flows through Prime Minister Narendra Modi to try and tackle some of the world’s big problems for example development and how you do development in technology in future and how does technology play a role in development,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described India’s agenda at the G-20 as “inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented”. He added, “During our G-20 Presidency, we shall present India’s experiences, learnings and models as possible templates for others, particularly the developing world.
Underscoring the potential of India in finding answers to the current challenges, Ellis said, “It is an opportunity to tell the story of India and the story of new India and modern India. So, I am glad that India has got the presidency and we will support it absolutely to try and find answers to those questions but its a tough ask there is a high ambition, it’s a tough to ask at the same time.”
Alexander Ellis said that India is a powerful country and has the ability to talk to many different nations, which he stressed is “extremely useful” at the moment. He emphasised that the world is facing a number of problems, including climate change sustainability, and public health.
“I am really pleased that India has the Presidency of the G20. You had Harsh Shringla the other day because India is a powerful country, an increasingly powerful country,” the High Commissioner said.
Speaking about India’s G20 Presidency, Ellis said, “It is a country which has the ability to talk to many different countries and I think that is extremely useful at the moment because you are in a world in which there are huge global problems, we talked about climate changes sustainability, we talked about public health as well.”
For India, the G20 Presidency also marks the beginning of “Amritkaal”, the 25-year period beginning from the 75th anniversary of its independence on 15 August 2022, leading up to the centenary of its independence, towards a futuristic, prosperous, inclusive and developed society, distinguished by a human-centric approach at its core. The 43 Heads of Delegations- the largest ever in G20-will be participating in the final New Delhi Summit in September next year.
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