Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi landed in Bali on Monday for the G20 Leaders’ Summit. The next day, he met with the leaders of the United States and Indonesia and addressed the Indian diaspora in Bali. On Wednesday, India took over the presidency of the group from Indonesia on Wednesday. It will begin its year-long tenure at the start of next month.
Modi also held bilateral meetings with the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), Singapore, Italy, France, and Germany on Wednesday. Below is a summary of those meetings.
Glad to meet PM Albanese. Discussed ways to further cement the 🇮🇳 🇦🇺 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with a focus on cooperation in education, innovation and other sectors. We also talked about increasing trade and maritime cooperation. @AlboMP pic.twitter.com/p216micRek
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 16, 2022
Australia
Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed regional and global developments of mutual interest, including Indo-Pacific security, climate action, and India’s coming G20 presidency.
The pair celebrated the “excellent state of relations” and frequent “high-level interactions” between India and Australia under their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and expressed interest in deepening cooperation in defence, trade, education, clean energy, higher education, and training and capacity building.
So wonderful to see my friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, and to celebrate the rich connections between our two countries and our people. We had a discussion on how India and Australia can work more closely on Indo-Pacific security, including as Quad partners. pic.twitter.com/Y3P1FIDXMt
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 16, 2022
In a press conference after their meeting, Albanese affirmed that ‘upgrading’ their trade relationship is “very important” and revealed that he will visit India in March and again later in the year for the next G20 summit. He noted that a business delegation will accompany him on his trip this coming march and also said that Modi will visit Australia next year for the annual Quad leaders’ summit.
United Kingdom (UK)
Modi also held his first in-person meeting with newly-appointed British PM Rishi Sunak. According to a press release by the British government, Sunak celebrated the “living bridge” between the two countries and expressed gratitude for Indians’ “overwhelming response” to his appointment.
They discussed collaboration on issues such as trade, mobility, security, defence, and security and also spoke of the need to broaden cooperation in multilateral forums like the Commonwealth and G20.
Was great to meet PM @RishiSunak in Bali. India attaches great importance to robust 🇮🇳 🇬🇧 ties. We discussed ways to increase commercial linkages, raise the scope of security cooperation in context of India’s defence reforms and make people-to-people ties even stronger. pic.twitter.com/gcCt35m1uw
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 16, 2022
Like in their telephonic conversation a few weeks ago, Sunak expressed his interest in expediting negotiations on a free trade agreement, which the UK said “has the potential to unlock investment and increase jobs in both our countries, as well as expanding our deep cultural links.”
The pair celebrated the two countries’ “wide-ranging” Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and spoke of the progress in realising Roadmap 2030 for Future Relations, which the two sides agreed to last May as part of a wider goal of doubling bilateral trade by 2030.
Sunak also vowed to work together on global challenges such as the Ukraine war.
United by friendship
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) November 16, 2022
एक मज़बूत दोस्ती
🇬🇧🇮🇳 @NarendraModi pic.twitter.com/uJXRriCVwg
Singapore
Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong and Modi celebrated the two countries’ Strategic Partnership and their frequent high-level ministerial and institutional engagements via forums such as the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable in New Delhi last year.
Modi lauded Singapore as a critical player in India’s ‘Act East’ policy, which seeks to promote economic, strategic, and cultural relations with countries across the Indo-Pacific.
Lee and Modi discussed regional and global developments, including the need to enhance ASEAN-India cooperation. To this end, he welcomed Singapore’s role as its country coordinator for ASEAN-India relations from 2021-2024.
In fact, ASEAN and India elevated their Strategic Partnership to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership just last week and agreed to expedite the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA). Officials also spoke of the need to operationalise the Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and further expand it to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Furthermore, they emphasised on the importance of cooperation via other regional frameworks, such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Indonesia-Malaysia- Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), Singapore-Johor-Riau (SIJORI) Growth Triangle, Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia- Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC), and Ayeyawady Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS).
Delighted to meet PM @leehsienloong in Bali. We discussed boosting avenues of India-Singapore cooperation in sectors such as the green economy, renewable energy, FinTech and deepening trade relations. Singapore is an important pillar of India’s ‘Act East’ policy. pic.twitter.com/wQN6Wjy2vE
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 16, 2022
On the heels of this meeting, Modi and Lee expressed their commitment to expanding trade and investment ties in fintech, renewable energy, skill development, health, and pharmaceuticals.
Modi welcomed Singaporean investment in the green economy, infrastructure, and digitalisation, and urged it to “take advantage of India’s National Infrastructure Pipeline, Asset Monetisation Plan, and the Gati Shakti Plan.
Italy
Modi met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni for the first time since her appointment last month as the country’s first female PM. They discussed the potential of deepening ties in trade and investment, counterterrorism, and people-to-people relations.
Excellent meeting with PM @GiorgiaMeloni. We exchanged views on how India and Italy can work closely in sectors like energy, defence, culture and in boosting climate change. We also focused on ways to enhance economic partnership between our countries. 🇮🇳 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/F4Qgd1ZYCe
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 16, 2022
A press release by the Italian government said that the pair spoke of the importance of stability in the Indo-Pacific and the “repercussions” of the Ukraine war, particularly on food and energy availability.
France
In their first in-person meeting since the G7 summit in June and building on the progress made during their meeting in May, French President Emmanuel Macron and Modi discussed ties in sectors such as defence, civil, nuclear, trade, and investment, along with global and regional issues of mutual interest. They both underscored the need to expand ties in “new areas of economic engagements.”
As always, an excellent meeting with President @EmmanuelMacron. We had in-depth discussions on various issues including boosting cooperation in defence, nuclear energy and food security. Close India-France ties are a force of great global good. 🇮🇳 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/HOQ9di75g4
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 16, 2022
प्रधान मंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी के साथ, शांति के लिए हम एक ही एजेंडा साझा करते हैं । हम भारत की आगामी जी20 अध्यक्षता के तहत इस पर काम करेंगे। pic.twitter.com/iZyBmWQ67q
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 16, 2022
Germany
Marking their third meeting this year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Modi celebrated how bilateral relations have entered a new phase due to initiatives such as the Partnership on Green and Sustainable Development, which the two sides have said will expand “bilateral, triangular and multilateral cooperation and link it with the strong commitment of both sides on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and SDGs.”
Delighted to meet Chancellor Scholz. This is our third meeting this year and we built on the strong ground covered during the Inter Governmental Consultations held earlier. We discussed ways to boost economic ties, defence collaboration and other important issues. @Bundeskanzler pic.twitter.com/SdbA4mMNSD
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 16, 2022
In addition, they agreed to expand ties in defence and security, migration and mobility, and infrastructure, along with strengthening their collaboration in multilateral forums like G20 and United Nations.