NEW DELHI: India pulled off a spectacular balancing act at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, where the spotlight was on the fissures between various nations who could not even agree to disagree.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leaders of opposing camps in bilateral and trilateral settings on the sidelines of the summit, firmly positioning India as a neutral guest at the world’s top table.
His first meeting was with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman or MBS, who has been linked to the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. MBS was cold-shouldered by several European leaders as well as by Justin Trudeau of Canada.
But several other leaders, including Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia, went out of their way to greet and meet the young Saudi leader. Modi also joined two significant trilateral meetings on the margins of the G20. One was the first trilateral with Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the other with Presidents Xi and Putin.
AT A GLANCE
The G-20 was formed after the 1998 global financial meltdown to discuss ways of ensuring economic stability and a global monetary policy