Biden renews effort to woo India’s Modi in talks before G20 summit
The US is trying gradually to make the traditionally neutral India a more explicit partner and part of a wider political and defence alliance in the Indo-Pacific.
The White House said in a statement after the meeting that Biden welcomed the joint commitment to democratic values, and specifically that he welcomed an Indian defence department request to buy US-built remotely controlled aircraft.
India has a number of disputes with China but it has been wary of joining an implicitly anti-Beijing alliance. Kurt Campbell, the White House Indo-Pacific envoy, said relations with India continued to be a work in progress.
The two leaders agreed to progress agreements reached in June, when Modi visited Washington, including a deal to allow General Electric to produce jet engines in India to power Indian military aircraft.
Biden decided to delay his planned post-summit press conference and hold it at his next stop in Vietnam, reflecting the tight press controls being mounted by the Indian security services, says 'The Guardian' article.
Stage set for Modi to host G20, a BJP leader says PM gave forum a new meaning
New Delhi
"People of India and the major developing and industrialised nations today have high expectations from the G20 Delhi Summit. This is because every stakeholders have a very high expectations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi," senior BJP leader M Chuba Ao said.
Talking to IANS, the BJP national vice president said, "Of course, hosting of G-20 came to India by rotation. Many countries have hosted it in the past. In 2022 it was Indonesia’s turn. But PM Modi has been able to give India’s G-20 Presidency a new meaning and purpose. G-20 has been democratised and taken to people".
"We had successful G20 related gatherings and brainstorming sessions in Kohima to Jammu and Kashmir. It is no small achievement," he said.
Answering questions, Chuba said, "The importance of Africa in global affairs has gained momentum".
"In today’s world, economy guides diplomacy. G-20 is precisely a structure for that. PM Modi and other global leaders including President Biden will chalk out strategies to work at the international level especially in the context of Russia-Ukraine war and post-Covid world," he said.
Critics say, sensing an opportunity to "burnish his credentials as a statesman" ahead of elections, Mr Modihas thrust himself front and centre of proceedings.
It's true, Modi's image adorns countless G20 billboards and posters plastered around Delhi.
Hence, an argument built up is that a failure of G20 leaders to agree on a joint summit statement, a usually routine diplomatic affair, could be seen as an embarrassment for India.
"Thanks to Modi ji’s visionary leadership and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar’s works, people admit today that India’s G20 Presidency has planted the seeds of confidence in poorer countries. Prime Minister Modi also has stated that the world will soon have to move faster towards a more representative and inclusive order," Chuba said.
"This is what we cherish about ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – One Earth, One Family, One Future’," he stated.
"It is not just a slogan but a guiding philosophy. We must note, the world has taken note of India’s human-centric model of development," the BJP leader said.
Next two and half decades as we approach 2047, India will be 100 years old and a new catalyst on the global stage.
Some benefits at the global stage are already being spoken about and this will show the emergence of ‘New India’. The effort towards greater inclusion for the Global South is a welcome step, he said.
Chuba pointed out that the importance of Africa in global affairs has gained momentum.
The G20 was conceived in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis as a way of managing the global economy. But finding consensus among members has been increasingly difficult. "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has painted the summit as his country’s diplomatic coming of age — evidence of New Delhi’s clout and prestige on the global stage," says an AFP report.
Even in a fractured world, Modi looks set to secure at least one concrete step in that direction including the African Union as a permanent member of G20 could be a reality and the groupwill automatically turn G-21.
President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union (AU), Azali Assoumani,said, “We are confident of becoming a full member of G20 in the summit being held under Indian Presidency....G20 should invest in industrialisation of Africa so that our resources are used to produce goods in the continent and our youth can find employment,” he said.
At the East Asia Summit at Jakarta earlier this week, Modi said, "India believes that the Code of Conduct for South China Sea should be effective and in accordance with UNCLOS. Additionally, it should take into consideration the interests of countries that are not directly involved in the discussions".
This issue is directly linked to China, whose President Xi Jinping has decided to stay away from the Delhi Summit. Xi has never missed the G20 Meet. Modi making such a statement shows the balance of power in Asia could now shift in favour of India.
While some may think the utility of the G20 in an era of fractured interests and global conflict is in doubt, US Prez Joe Biden's aides emphasized they still view the forum as capable of producing valuable outcomes.
"Great seeing you, Mr. Prime Minister," US President Joe Biden tweeted minutes after he was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence here.
Biden is in the Indian capital for the all important G-20 Summit and both the leaders also had a bilateral meeting.
"Today, and throughout the G20, we'll affirm that the United States-India partnership is stronger, closer, and more dynamic than any time in history", the US President wrote on X.
"Happy to have welcomed @POTUS @JoeBiden to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Our meeting was very productive. We were able to discuss numerous topics which will further economic and people-to-people linkages between India and USA. The friendship between our nations will continue to play a great role in furthering global good," the Prime Minister wrote on X.
ends
(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of the books ‘The Talking Guns: North East India’, and ‘Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth’. Views expressed are personal)
The (press conference flip flop - bloggers) incident comes after protracted negotiations were needed before Indian officials agreed to Modi taking one question from US reporters during his visit to Washington in June.
“The president believes the free press is the pillar of our democracy,” the White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told journalists onboard Air Force One, insisting they were doing all they could to secure media access.
At the Washington press conference with Biden in June, the one question to Modi came from the Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui, who asked the Hindu nationalist about accusations of repression of Muslims in India and the country’s record on human rights.
Siddiqui was subsequently subjected to “intense online harassment”, the White House Correspondents’ Association said, “including from people with ties to the prime minister’s political party”.
India ranks 161 out of 180 in this year’s Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders. In recent years, journalists have been arrested and some are stopped from travelling abroad. Dozens are facing criminal prosecution, including for sedition. The government has also introduced sweeping regulatory laws for social media companies that give it more power to police online content.
A number of media outlets critical of Modi have been subjected to tax searches, including the BBC after it aired a documentary that examined the prime minister’s role in 2002 anti-Muslim riots in the western state of Gujarat, where he was chief minister at the time.
The US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, joined the bilateral, as did the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. Indian attenders included the external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the security adviser Ajit Doval.
Biden is bringing cash for the World Bank and promises on the climate crisis that he hopes will show debt-ridden economies in Africa that he has their interest at heart in a way that the Chinese Belt and Road infrastructure project does not.
Biden sets great store by personal relations in diplomacy, and has done as much with Modi as with any other world leader to cultivate a personal relationship. He continues to raise human rights, his aides say, but it is clear Biden has put the treatment of religious minorities in India on a relative back burner.
Chinese-Indian relations were damaged before the summit as the Chinese ministry of natural resources website displayed Arunachal Pradesh and the Doklam Plateau – over which the two sides have feuded – as included within Chinese borders, along with Aksai Chin in the western section that China controls but India still claims.
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