Prime Minister Narendra Modi held several bilateral meetings with heads of state and government attending the G20 summit that concluded on Sunday. One of the most significant of these meetings conducted on the sidelines of the G20 summit was the meeting with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday.
“PM Narendra Modi and Chancellor Merkel met on the sidelines of Rome G20 Summit. There were extensive deliberations on India-Germany relations. The strong friendship between the two nations augurs well for the well-being of our planet,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted. Earlier in August, PM Modi had held a telephonic conversation with Merkel where they discussed the unfolding security situation in Afghanistan and its implications on the region and the world.
“Chancellor Merkel has made an immense contribution in strengthening Indo-German relations. Delighted to meet her today, after a long time, in Rome for a wide-ranging and fruitful conversation,” PM Modi said in a tweet.
PM Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez too held talks and discussed ways to deepen ties between India and Spain.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister’s Office said that the two nations are cooperating extensively in areas such as trade, energy, innovation and more. “In Rome, PM @narendramodi met the Prime Minister of Spain, Mr. @sanchezcastejon. Both leaders had fruitful talks on ways to deepen ties between India and Spain. The two nations are cooperating extensively in areas such as trade, energy, innovation and more.”
Another meeting was held with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, where the two leaders discussed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership including trade, investment and P2P ties.
“PM Narendra Modi met Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Discussed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including trade, investment and P2P ties,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. During the meeting, PM Modi also congratulated Indonesia for its G20 Presidency next year and assured India’s support as part of the Troika, Bagchi said in the tweet.
The Prime Minister’s Office tweeted “Strong relations with Indonesia is a key part of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and ‘SAGAR’ vision. Ways to improve economic linkages and cultural cooperation figured prominently during the talks”.
A meeting between the Indian Prime Minister and his British counterpart is will take place at the upcoming 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-26) in Glasgow. “This will be a multilateral event but this will be an opportunity for Prime Ministers of India and UK to sit together and review the implementation, the progress that had been made on the roadmap 2030 in May 2021,” High Commissioner of India to UK, Gaitri Issar Kumar said during an interview with a news agency. “And a lot has happened since then, in trade and finance and defence and security sectors. We will have the opportunity to talk about regional and global issues of shared interest, particularly in the health care sector, about mutual recognition of vaccine certification on both sides and of course climate action,” the high commissioner added.
Meanwhile, India and the UK are also announcing a joint declaration on “One Sun, One World, One Grid”. “This will be a very important initiative launch under the solar alliance. And it is important that how would we like the international community to view this,” Kumar said.
On Saturday, PM Modi met various leaders including Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and French President Emmanuel Macron.