G20 Summit: PM Modi To Meet UK PM Sunak, French Prez Macron

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold several bilateral meetings, including those with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.

These discussions will take place on the eve of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. PM Modi will visit Bali from 14 to 16 November. He will speak to members of the Indian diaspora as well as attend the mega summit.

His meeting with UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak will be the two leaders' first in-person meeting.

Sunak, Britain's first Indian-origin Prime Minister, spoke with PM Modi shortly after taking office last month. During this conversation, the early completion of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was discussed.

PM Modi's meeting with French President Macron will be an opportunity to reaffirm New Delhi and Paris’ close relationship. France recently released its National Strategic Review 2022, emphasising greater cooperation with New Delhi. 

The Prime Minister will also meet with the President of Suriname and the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo.

The 17th G20 Summit will take place from 15 to 16 November. The summit will bring together world leaders to devise solutions to the current global crisis. US Vice President Joe Biden will also visit Bali, known as the “Island of the Gods.”

Biden's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday will be closely watched for any signs of progress in relations as the world's number one and number two economies head for what experts call a new cold war.

This year's summit is especially important for India because it will be given the presidency of the mega grouping. With great fanfare, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the logo, theme, and website for India's G20 presidency earlier this month. The logo, which incorporates the colours of the Indian national flag, contrasts planet Earth with the lotus, India's national flower.

However, concerns about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and a world recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic are unlikely to go away anytime soon. However, India appears to be optimistic, as the Prime Minister said that India's G20 presidency comes at a time when the world is in crisis and chaos. The world is dealing with the aftermath of a disruptive, once-in-a-century pandemic.

For the first time since 2008, India will host the G20 Summit next year. Beginning in December of this year, the Indian presidency will host 200 G20 meetings across the country. The Sherpa meeting in Udaipur will be the first meeting in the first week of December.

The G20 does not have a secretariat, but the group's president sets the agenda. India has already established a G20 Secretariat within the Ministry of External Affairs. It has more than 40 officials. India's Sherpa Amitabh Kant, India's G20 Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla and G20 special operations lead Muktesh Pardeshi to lead the secretariat.