NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold bilaterals and pull-asides with a host of world leaders, including United States President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, among others on the sidelines of G20 Summit scheduled to begin in Osaka from Thursday.
PM Modi will arrive in Japan on Thursday morning for the 14th edition of the Summit. His first and sole bilateral on day one will be with Shinzo Abe. It should be recalled that Abe was the first foreign leaders to congratulate Modi on phone after he re-election on May 23.
This year's summit is centred around the theme "Human-Centred Future Society," and the Prime Minister is expected to raise issues pertaining to energy security, terrorism and return of economic fugitives.
Through the first day of the two-day long summit, Modi is expected to hold a series of bilateral as well as pull aside meetings, starting with the Japan-US-India trilateral summit. This would be immediately followed by a bilateral with Donald Trump.
The meeting with Trump holds significance as it comes against the backdrop of Washington's trade disputes with Japan and China, as well as simmering tensions in the Persian Gulf Region, which has a big Indian diaspora.
World leaders participating in the summit will discuss free trade and economic growth, global economy including taxation, finance, digital economy and artificial intelligence, inclusive and sustainable world.
Other issues on the agenda include energy and environment, Society 5.0, quality infrastructure, global health, ageing, climate change, and marine plastic waste.
The bilateral with Trump is expected to be followed by an informal meeting with leaders of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). Modi's third bilateral will likely be with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
On Friday afternoon, Modi will likely hold pull-aside meetings with Prime Ministers of Thailand and Vietnam, Prayut Chan-o-Cha, and Nguyen Xuan Phuc respectively. Through the rest of the day, the Indian Prime Minister will likely hold two other pull-asides with President of World Bank Group David Malpass and United States Secretary General Antonio Guterres, as well as a bilateral with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
On Friday night, Modi will participate in the cultural program and dinner with the world leaders participating in the summit.
Modi will likely begin the second day of the summit with a bilateral with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The meeting is expected to be immediately followed by Modi's participation in Leaders' side event on Women's empowerment.
Through the day, Modi will likely hold four more bilaterals with French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, as well as pull aside meetings with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong.
Modi will likely depart from the Japanese city of Osaka on Saturday evening.
G20 has emerged as the premier global forum for international economic cooperation.
Established in 1999, the G20 was elevated from a forum of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to that of heads of the state or the government in 2008 to effectively respond to the global financial crisis of 2008.
The members represent around 85 per cent of global gross domestic product, over 75 per cent of global trade and two-thirds of the world's population.
India has participated in all the G20 summits held so far and will host the summit in 2022 for the first time. India, Russia, and China will hold a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20Summit.Besides India and the host Japan, other participants are the US, UK, European Union, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Russia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Korea, South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.