PM Modi concludes Brazil visit, leaves for Guyana

Rio de Janeiro, Nov 20 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday left for Guyana on the last leg of his three-nation tour after attending the G20 Summit in Brazil, where he met global leaders, including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starme.

PM Modi concludes Brazil visit, leaves for Guyana

Rio de Janeiro, Nov 20 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday left for Guyana on the last leg of his three-nation tour after attending the G20 Summit in Brazil, where he met global leaders, including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Modi arrived in the South American country after wrapping up a "productive" visit to Nigeria, where he held bilateral talks with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and interacted with the Indian community.

Announcing his departure from Brazil, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a post on X, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplanes for Guyana, the last leg of his three-nation visit, after a constructive and fruitful G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro." In Brazil, Modi was welcomed on Monday by the Indian community with Sanskrit chants after his arrival. Cultural performances were also held to welcome him.

On Monday, Modi briefly interacted with Biden on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in their first exchanges following the US presidential election.

In an address at a session at the G20 Summit on Monday, Modi said India's G20 theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future" was as relevant at the ongoing summit as it was last year.

The countries of the Global South are most adversely impacted by the food, fuel and fertiliser crisis caused by global conflicts and the G20 must focus on addressing it, Modi said.

Biden, Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Macron and Starmer were among the leaders attending the two-day summit in Rio de Janeiro.

On India's initiatives to deal with hunger and poverty, Modi said India had pulled 250 million people out of poverty in the last 10 years and was distributing free foodgrains to 800 million people in the country.

The prime minister also highlighted the steps taken by India to strengthen food security in Africa and elsewhere.

Earlier on Tuesday, Modi held several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

He met leaders from Brazil, Italy, Indonesia and Portugal, Norway, Chile, Argentina, Egypt, South Korea and discussed ways to deepen ties in sectors such as defence, security, trade and technology.

During talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leaders took stock of the full range of bilateral ties while reaffirming India's commitment to improving cooperation in sectors such as energy, biofuels, defence and agriculture.

He also met Macron and discussed ways to keep working closely in sectors such as space, energy and AI.

The prime minister also complimented the French president on France's successful hosting of the Olympic Games and the Paralympics in Paris earlier this year.

Modi also had a meeting with his UK counterpart Starmer during which he expressed eagerness to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology.

Following the bilateral meeting, Starmer announced that trade talks with India would be relaunched in the new year.

Meanwhile, India and Italy unveiled an ambitious five-year strategic action plan that outlined specific initiatives in the key sectors of defence, trade, clean energy and connectivity following extensive talks between Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni.

The action plan 2025-29 identified 10 specific pillars for advancing bilateral engagement that included economic cooperation and investments, energy transition, space, defence, security, migration and mobility, and people-to-people exchanges.

On Tuesday, India and Australia officially launched the Renewable Energy Partnership that aims to boost two-way investment in the renewable energy sectors as Modi held talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.

The two leaders held the second India-Australia Annual Summit on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, during which they reiterated their commitment to further advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in myriad areas such as defence and security, trade and investment, education, skills, sports, space, mobility and people-to-people ties.

Modi's visit to Guyana till November 21 comes at the invitation of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. It will be the first visit of an Indian prime minister to Guyana in more than 50 years. PTI AMS SZM

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