- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday (29) arrived in Rome, Italy, to take part in the two-day G20 Summit starting Saturday (30). He is likely to hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit including one with Mario Draghi, his counterpart from the host nation.
Asian News International cited sources as saying that on the eve of the summit, Modi will have a brief meeting with European Union president Ursula von der Leyen and her European Council counterpart Charles Michael.
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Besides the summit which will focus on issues such as global economy, health, sustainable development, environment and climate change, Modi is also likely to attend meetings with heads of a number of states.
According to the sources, at least three such meetings are scheduled on the sidelines on the first day of the summit. Modi is also set to utilise the opportunity to ensure greater cooperation from India’s participation in the 16th G20 Summit.
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Early on Saturday, Modi is scheduled to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican. He will then head for the summit which has “Global Economy and Global Health” as the first session. This year, the theme of the summit under the Italian presidency is woven around ‘People, Planet and Prosperity’.
The same day, Modi will meet French president Emmanuel Macron and Indonesian president Joko Widodo. He is also expected to have a meeting with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.
On Sunday (31), Modi will meet his counterpart from Spain Pedro Sanchez and German chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the summit. He will also participate in discussions on ‘Climate Change and Environment and Sustainable Development’. There will also be a global summit on supply chain resilience, sources said.
Modi will also pay floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Piazza Gandhi in the Italian capital. Neena Malhotra, the Indian ambassador to Rome, is likely to accompany Modi in his visit. According to the sources, Modi may also take part in a cultural event and visit some historical sites as well.
Indian foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said in a press briefing that Modi is scheduled to attend the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, after the G20 Summit and there, he is expected to pitch for collective efforts to deal with the situation in Afghanistan post the return of the Taliban to power.
