At G20 Summit, PM Modi Meets World Leaders. Economy, Global Health Main Focus During Opening Session

The leaders attending the summit also posed for a group photograph.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday interacted with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Italy’s capital Rome.

“On the sidelines of the @g20org Rome Summit, PM@narendramodi interacts with various leaders,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) tweeted.

The leaders attending the summit also posed for a group photograph.

READ: ‘Very Warm Meeting’: PM Modi On Visiting Pope Francis At Vatican, Invites Him To Come To India

“World leaders meet in Rome for the @g20org Summit, an important multilateral forum for global good,” the PMO posted on the micro-blogging platform.

Prime Minister Modi also held “productive discussions” with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit.

“Productive discussions between PM @narendramodi and President @EmmanuelMacron on the sidelines of the @g20org Summit. India and France are cooperating extensively in various sectors. Today’s talks will add momentum to the bilateral ties between the two nations,” the PMO tweeted.

The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the state of the wide-ranging India-France strategic partnership.

“Prime Minister also welcomed the European Union’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, released in September 2021, and thanked the French President for France’s leadership role in the same,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a release.

“The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific and to find new and innovative ways to contribute towards a free, open and rules-based order in the region. The two leaders discussed the forthcoming COP26 and the need to focus on issues of climate finance,” the release added.

Prime Minister Modi also invited the French President to visit India at the earliest opportunity.

Prime Minister Modi also had a “fruitful meeting” with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong during which they “reviewed the full range of the friendly ties” between both sides.

“A fruitful meeting between Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @leehsienloong in Rome. The two leaders reviewed the full range of the friendly ties between India and Singapore,” the PMO tweeted.

This was their first in-person meeting in the post-pandemic period.

“Both leaders discussed global efforts to combat climate change and the forthcoming COP26. They also discussed ongoing efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic through expedited vaccination efforts and ensuring supply of critical medicines,” the MEA said.

“In this context PM Modi appreciated Singapore’s outreach to provide Covid assistance to India during the second wave. Prime Minister Lee congratulated the Prime Minister for the rapid vaccination drive in India,” the release added.

They also discussed ways to enhance people to people ties, including early normalization of movement between both countries.

Prime Minister Modi is participating in the summit along with other Heads of State of G-20 member countries, the European Union and other invited countries and International Organisations.

The summit this year is centered around the theme - People, Planet, Prosperity. The thrust of the Summit is on economic and health recovery, climate change and sustainable development.

The economy and global health was the focus during the opening session of the 16th G-20 Summit.

Highlighting India’s contributions to fighting the deadly coronavirus disease, Prime Minister Modi in his remarks at the G-20 meeting said New Delhi is ready to produce over five billion Covid vaccine doses by the end of next year to help the world in its fight against the pandemic.

Prime Minister Modi during his intervention at the “global economy and global health” session at the G20 meeting also highlighted India’s medical supply to over 150 countries and contribution in maintaining the global supply chain during the pandemic, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.

Briefing the media on Prime Minister Modi’s engagements in Rome, the Foreign Secretary said the former also stressed on the need for facilitating international travel and spoke about having a mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means for this.

The Foreign Secretary further said Prime Minister Modi, in the context of fighting the pandemic and future global health issues, also spoke about “One Earth, One Health” vision.

Noting that approval of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the emergency use authorisation for indigenous vaccine Covaxin is pending, India suggested that permission for the jab will help New Delhi assist other nations.

The UN health agency’s technical advisory group will meet on November 3 to conduct a final risk-benefit assessment for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

Talking about India’s bold economic reforms, Prime Minister Modi invited the G-20 nations to make New Delhi their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.

Taking part in the first in-person summit since the coronavirus pandemic began, the world leaders attending the G-20 Summit will focus on economic recovery post Covid-19, global minimum corporate tax rate and climate change besides others.

The leaders attending the summit are likely to formally affirm their commitment to establishing a 15 percent global minimum corporate tax rate by 2023.

This move is focused on preventing the multinational companies from stashing profits in the nations where they pay few or no taxes.

The US President, the German Chancellor, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also discussed on the sidelines of the summit the next steps on Iran’s nuclear program.

Prime Minister Modi, who landed in Rome this morning, will join other G-20 leaders tomorrow in discussions on the global economic and health recovery from the pandemic, sustainable development and climate change, among other issues.

“The primary purpose of his visit is to attend the 16th G-20 Summit. But he also is using the opportunity to do a number of bilateral meetings with Heads of State and Government. After his arrival, the Prime Minister met with the President of the European Council, His Excellency Mr. Charles Michel; and the President of the European Commission, Her Excellency Ms. Ursula von der Leyen,” Shringla said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi met Pope Francis in the Vatican City where they discussed “a wide range of issues”.

It was the first-ever one-to-one meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Pope Francis wherein he invited the head of the Catholic Church to pay a visit to India.

The Prime Minister shared photos of his meet with the Pope on Twitter and wrote: “Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India”.

The Prime Minister also met Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Vatican City State.

Prime Minister Modi had earlier met his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit.

In their first in-person meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Modi congratulated his Italian counterpart for successfully hosting the G-20 in the midst of a global pandemic.