NEW DELHI: "Hello Delhi! It's great to be in India for this year’s G20," said US President Joe Biden after arriving in Delhi a day ahead of the G20 Summit.
President Biden went straight to have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg.
"Happy to have welcomed Joe Biden at Lok Kalyan Marg. Our meeting was very productive. We were able to discuss numerous topics which will further economic and people to people linkages between India and the US. The friendship between our nations will continue to play a great role in furthering global good," said PM Modi.
"PM Modi and President Biden expressed their appreciation for the substantial progress underway to implement the ground breaking achievements of PM Modi’s visit to the US in June. The leaders called their governments to continue the work of transforming the India-US Strategic Partnership across all dimensions of our multifaceted global agenda, based on trust and mutual understanding," said a joint statement issued by the White House.
The leaders re-emphasised that the shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism and equal opportunities for all citizens are critical to the success their countries enjoy and these were the values that strengthened their relationship, the White House statement added.
PM Modi and President Biden reaffirmed the importance of the Quad in supporting a free, open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific. PM Modi also welcomed President Biden to the next Quad leaders Summit which will be hosted by India in 2024.
ALSO READ | G20 Summit: Delhi Declaration almost ready, says 'Sherpa' Amitabh Kant, but Ukraine a thorny issue
President Biden reaffirmed his support for a reformed UNSC with India as a permanent member, and in this context welcomed India’s candidature for the UNSC non-permanent seat in 2028-29.
The two leaders also reaffirmed their collaboration in defence ties, critical and emerging technologies, semiconductor supply chains, telecommunications, quantum computing, cyber security, education, health and energy amongst other things.
Meanwhile, PM Modi had bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Mauritius and Bangladesh.
The first bilateral meeting PM Modi had was with his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Kumar Jugnauth. India and Mauritius are celebrating 75 years of diplomatic ties.
"We discussed cooperation in sectors like infrastructure, FinTech, culture and more. We also reiterated India’s commitment to furthering the voice of the Global South," said PM Modi.
Mauritius is a key partner to India’s vision Security and Growth for all in the Region initiative -- SAGAR.
Meanwhile, discussions were held on connectivity and commercial linkages between PM Modi and PM Hasina of Bangladesh.
"Had productive deliberations with PM Sheikh Hasina. The progress in India-Bangladesh relations in the past nine years has been gladdening. Our talks covered areas like connectivity, commercial linkages and more," said PM Modi. The two also agreed to strengthen people to people ties.
Sources point out that Sheikh Hasina is likely to inaugurate a rail link with Tripura and the second unit of the Rampal power plant along with PM Modi, virtually from Delhi, on the sidelines of the G20 meetings. Sheikh Hasina is expected to sign several agreements including a deal which will facilitate a Rupee-Taka card for citizens of both countries to pay in local currency instead of in dollars while travelling to the other.
in the next two days (September 9th and 10th), PM Modi is scheduled to have more bilateral meetings. On September 9, meetings are likely to take place between PM Modi and leaders of UK, Japan, Germany and Italy. On September 10, PM Modi is slated to have a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron.
In all, PM Modi is likely to have close to 15 bilateral meetings which include meetings with leaders from Canada, Comoros, Turkiye, UAE, South Korea, EU/EC, Brazil and Nigeria.
