As G20 leaders continued their Summit discussions for the second day in Hamburg, US President Donald Trump on Saturday walked up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an “impromptu interaction”.
Describing the meet, Arvind Panagariya, sherpa for India at the Summit, tweeted: “In an impromptu interaction at the G20 Summit, POTUS (President of the US) waves to the PM, walks to him, other leaders gather around. Gr8 moments.”
Besides a series of bilateral meetings, including talks with his counterparts from Japan and Canada, Modi had brief chats with various leaders like IMF chief Christine Lagarde and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Modi sought the UK’s help to bring back “economic offenders”, tweeted External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay.
Asked whether India’s request was limited to fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya or if former IPL chief Lalit Modi was also mentioned, Baglay said, “I don’t want to get into the specifics, but the phrase used in the tweet... is plural.”
In talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Modi briefly reviewed the progress in bilateral ties as the two nations geared up for the Malabar naval exercise amid China’s growing military assertiveness in the disputed South and East China seas.
“(Modi) said he looked forward to Prime Minister Abe’s forthcoming visit to India for the next Annual Summit and hoped that it would further strengthen their cooperation,” read a statement.
A day after US President Donald Trump’s lengthy head-to-head encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the American leader described his meeting as “tremendous”.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the two leaders had a “robust and lengthy” discussion about the election interference, but Putin denied any involvement. His Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said Trump accepted Putin’s assurances that Russia didn’t meddle in the US election, a characterisation that the US disputed.
Noting his “special relationship” with the British Prime Minister, Trump said he and May were working on a trade agreement that he described as a “very, very big deal, very powerful, great deal for both countries.” He also told her he would soon “be going to London” once the details were worked out.
G20 leaders, including Trump, reached a compromise on the wording of a final Summit statement on trade, but remain at odds on climate change, according to an EU source. On trade, they will commit to fight protectionism but will also allow “legitimate” measures to protect their markets, the source added.