In Bali, PM Modi Meets Indians, To Attend G20 Summit With Top World Leaders

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Bali on Monday for the G20 Summit and bilateral meetings on its sidelines with key leaders attending this annual conference of the world’s major economies.

“Halo Indonesia. Arrived in Bali to take part in the G20 Summit. I look forward to having discussions with world leaders on global issues,” Modi tweeted in the Indonesian language.

The two-day summit began on Tuesday morning, and will be attended by US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak among heads from 20 countries and the European Union who make up the group.

Meanwhile, soon after landing in Bali, Modi met Indians.

“During the Bali summit, I will have extensive discussions with other G20 leaders on key issues of global concern, such as reviving global growth, food and energy security, environment, health and digital transformation,” Modi said ahead of his departure from Delhi.

Modi said he will meet with leaders of several other participating countries on the sidelines of the summit and review the progress in India’s bilateral relations with them.

Modi will have separate bilateral meetings with a number of leaders on the sidelines of the summit but it was not immediately clear if a separate meeting between Modi and Xi, who arrived in Bali earlier in the day, is in the works.

If it takes place, it would be the first one-on-one interaction between Modi and Xi since the border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand in September, the two did cross paths.

In Beijing, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said maintaining sound relations is in the fundamental interest of both China and India and their peoples.

“We hope the Indian side will work with China in the same direction, follow through on the important common understandings reached between the Chinese and Indian leaders, promote sound and steady development of the relations, and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and our fellow developing countries,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

“As to the question you raised about a meeting between the Chinese and Indian leaders, I have nothing to share,” she added.