PM to meet Chinese Prez Xi on sidelines of G-20 summit

NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in the sidelines of the upcoming G20 summit in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires on November 30, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said on Tuesday. Modi will be leaving for Argentina on Wednesday evening and return on December 2 .

This will be the fourth meeting between the two heads of state in last seven months, Gokhale said that a meeting with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) head of states is also scheduled.

“Our interest is two-fold that the G20 issue is not hijacked by the single issue of trade, whether it is between two countries or otherwise. And secondly, how we can constructively reform the World Trade Organization which serves India’s interest and which is multilateral. That is going to be one of the focal points of this meet, or certainly of India’s position at the G20 meeting,” Gokhale said.

He said the G20 summit must cover the entire gamut of economic issues, including the agricultural sector reform, the challenges climate change poses and healthcare issues faced by the world. The theme of the summit is ‘Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development’.

Detailing Modi’s visit, Gokhale said Modi will make a lead intervention in a session on, ‘Putting People First’ that is essentially on the global economy. The second session is on talks of building consensus which will deal with trade, finance, taxation, sustainable development and climate change.

The third session will be on ‘Embracing Opportunities’ and these are related to energy infrastructure, sustainable food security, Gokhale said.

Among others, the PM will also meet United Nations secretary general António Guterres, presidents of Argentina, Chile and heads of states of Spain, Jamaica and Netherlands. “A meeting with the German chancellor Angela Merkel is also scheduled and possibly with French president (Emmanuel Macron) ,” the foreign secretary said.