New Delhi: Following his arrival in New Delhi for the 18th G20 Summit Friday, US President Joe Biden is expected to take part in a bilateral meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to be followed by a dinner hosted for him at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg — the official residence of the Prime Minister.
Issues on the agenda for this bilateral meet, according to reports, include a review of announcements made during Modi’s official state visit to the US in June this year, besides discussions on nuclear energy and defence-related cooperation such as the GE jet engine deal, visas, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the lack of consensus within the G20.
The ensuing dinner is being seen as a reciprocal gesture, roughly three months after President Biden and First Lady Dr Jill Biden hosted a state dinner for the Prime Minister at the White House.
Ahead of Biden’s visit, the Centre said it will lower custom duties on numerous American products including chickpeas, lentils (masur), apples, walnuts (in shell) and almonds (fresh, dried or shelled). These import duties were first imposed in 2019 as a response to Washington’s decision to increase tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products.
India has now decided to remove additional duty on chickpeas (10 percent), lentils (20 percent), fresh or dried almonds (Rs 7 per kg), shelled almonds (Rs 20 per kg), walnuts (20 percent), and fresh apples (20 percent).
The finance ministry’s 5 September notification to lower import duties on these products is being seen as a follow up of discussions held between the two countries during Modi’s visit.
Talks during the visit had also resulted in an agreement to mutually resolve six trade disputes between New Delhi and Washington pending at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
On his first visit to India as President of the United States, Joe Biden will be welcomed upon arrival by Union minister General V.K. Singh (Retd). Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump too had visited India in 2020.
In a press briefing at the White House Tuesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan highlighted Washington’s key focus on “delivering on an agenda of fundamentally reshaping and scaling up the multilateral development banks, especially the World Bank and the IMF”.
Speaking on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to skip the summit and whether strained ties between Beijing and New Delhi would impact the G20 Summit, Sullivan observed, “If China wants to come in and play the role of spoiler, of course, that option is available to them.”
Against this backdrop, Washington has also endorsed India’s push for the African Union to be inducted as a permanent member of the G20 grouping.
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Bilateral meetings
While bilateral meetings are not customarily held during G20 summits, India has made an exception for Biden as well as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Prior to his meeting with Biden, Modi will also hold bilateral talks Friday with PM Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth.
This evening, I look forward to three bilateral meetings at my residence.
I will be meeting Mauritius PM @KumarJugnauth, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and @POTUS @JoeBiden.
The meetings will give an opportunity to review India's bilateral ties with these nations and further…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 8, 2023
According to reports, Modi is expected to hold more than 15 bilateral meetings over the next three days, including with the leaders of the UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, Turkiye, the UAE, South Korea, EU, Brazil, and Nigeria, besides a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron and a pull-aside meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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