Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met German Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez and Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met German Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez and Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome.
The salient features of PM’s interaction with the leaders are as follows:
Indonesian President Joko Widodo
Prime Minister Modi exchanged views with Indonesian President Widodo on the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, trade, economy and people-to-people ties.
In a tweet, the Ministry of External Affairs said that Modi congratulated Indonesia for the G20 presidency next year and assured India’s support as part of the troika (predecessor, present and upcoming G20 presidency).
In a tweet, PMO India said, “Strong ties with Indonesia are an important part of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and ‘SAGAR’ vision. Ways to improve economic ties and cultural cooperation figured prominently during the talks. Gaya.”
SAGAR is an acronym for “Security and Growth for All in the Region” in 2015. The vision focuses on cooperative measures for sustainable use of the oceans and provides a framework for a safe, secure and stable maritime domain in the region.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Modi and Merkel held wide-ranging and fruitful talks on the strong bilateral ties and reaffirmed their commitment to maintain the close strategic partnership.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials were present during the meeting with Merkel, accompanied by Modi, who came here on the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi to attend the G20 summit.
Merkel, 67, who stepped down after 16 years at the helm of Europe’s largest economy, has safely led the country through the global financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. Under his supervision, bilateral relations with India have made significant progress.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez
Prime Minister Modi invited more investments from Spain in India’s infrastructure projects as he met his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including strong bilateral ties in Afghanistan and the situation in the Indo-Pacific. -be provided. Modi, who is here at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi to attend the G20 summit, was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the meeting with Sanchez.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders welcomed the growing bilateral trade and investment ties, including the signing of a contract to purchase 56 C295 aircraft from Airbus Spain, 40 of which will be ‘Made in India’ in collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems. in a press release.
The two leaders agreed to further expand bilateral cooperation in new areas such as e-mobility, cleantech, advanced materials and deep-sea exploration.
Prime Minister Modi invited Spain to invest in various sectors, including green hydrogen, infrastructure and defense manufacturing, and take advantage of India’s national infrastructure pipeline, asset monetization plan and Gati Shakti scheme, the release said.
The two leaders discussed India-EU relations as well as cooperation on climate action and priorities at the upcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow. He said they also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.
India has expressed concern over the situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power in Kabul in August. India has underlined the need not to use the territory of Afghanistan to threaten or attack any country, or to harbor or train terrorists, or to plan or finance terrorist attacks.
India, the US and several other world powers are talking about the need to ensure a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s increasing military maneuvers in the resource-rich region. Modi also said that he looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Sanchez to India next year.
Earlier, the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted that the two leaders had fruitful talks on ways to deepen ties between India and Spain. “The two countries are cooperating extensively in areas such as trade, energy, innovation, and more,” it said.
(with PTI input)
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