G20 Summit 2022 highlights: Indonesia Wednesday handed over the G20 presidency to India for the coming year as the Bali summit of the grouping ended here with the member states finalising the joint declaration. Indonesian President Joko Widodo handed over the G20 presidency to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said taking over the Presidency of the grouping is a matter of pride for every citizen in India.
The second day of the two-day summit was marked by worries about an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, after two people were killed in a missile blast in Poland. While Polish Foreign Ministry said that the missile was from Russia, US officials said that initial assessment suggests it was fired by Ukrainian forces towards an incoming Russian missile. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy had termed the missile incident a “significant escalation” of hostilities.
Meanwhile, PM Modi partook in several bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit and was photographed while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping, a first since the Galwan Valley incident. Other world leaders in attendance included US President Joe Biden, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
As India was handed over the presidency of the G20, the Congress on Wednesday alleged that the grouping’s summit in 2023 will be milked by “the world’s greatest event manager” for the Lok Sabha elections, an apparent jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India will officially assume the G20 Presidency from December 1.The next G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, “G20, a grouping of 19 major economies & the European Union was set up in 1999. Since 2008 an annual summit is held in each member country IN TURN.” Each country gets a chance and India will host the summit in 2023, he said. (PTI)
Bali wants the world to know it’s back.
Dozens of world leaders and other dignitaries are traveling to the Indonesian island for the G-20 summit, drawing a welcome spotlight on the revival of the tropical destination’s vital tourism sector.
Tourism is the main source of income on this idyllic “island of the gods,” which is renowned for its tropical beaches, terraced rice paddies, mystical temples and colorful spiritual offerings. Read More
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statements on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia about a “huge difference between pre and post-2014 India” on Wednesday received a sharp response from the Congress, which said the PM broke the convention of not commenting on domestic politics at an international forum.
Addressing the Indian diaspora in Bali on Tuesday, Modi said, “The huge difference between pre and post-2014 India is that of speed and scale. Today, India is moving ahead at an unprecedented speed and scale.” He added that India “now builds the biggest statues and the biggest stadiums”.
The Modi-led government came to power in 2014. The PM said further, “We don’t dream small anymore. Since 2014, we have opened more than 320 million bank accounts. More than the population of the USA. Today, India is the fastest-growing large economy in the world.” Read More
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was handed over the presidency of G20 by Indonesian President Joko Widodo amid a round of applause, as the two-day bloc leaders’ summit in Bali came to a close on Wednesday.
The Group of 20 major economies adopted a joint declaration and produced other partnerships, Widodo said in his closing comments. Later, he handed over the gavel of presidency to PM Modi. India will officially assume the presidency from December 1. Read More
The G-20 communique in Bali echoed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as it said that “Today’s era must not be of war.”
Modi, in his statement to Putin in a bilateral meeting on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand in September this year, had said "now is not the time for war", referring to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
At the #G20Indonesia working session on digital transformation, PM @narendramodi emphasised the rapid growth of public digital infrastructure in India.
Stressed that @g20org can work together to eliminate digital divide. Data for development will be a key element of #G20India. pic.twitter.com/6sEhS7Nfr2
Adopted Wednesday, the G-20 communique said, “This year, we have also witnessed the war in Ukraine further adversely impact the global economy. There was a discussion on the issue. We reiterated our national positions as expressed in other fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, which, in Resolution No. ES-11/1 dated 2 March 2022, as adopted by majority vote (141 votes for, 5 against, 35 abstentions, 12 absent) deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.” (Read more)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday held “fruitful” talks with French President Emmanuel Macron with a focus on enhancing bilateral defence and economic engagement. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit held in Bali.
Avec le Premier ministre Narendra Modi, nous partageons le même agenda en faveur de la paix. Nous y travaillerons dans le cadre de la prochaine présidence indienne du G20. pic.twitter.com/EJM7a8lChS
It is understood that the Ukraine conflict and its implications including food and energy security figured in the talks.
The military cooperation between India and France has witnessed a major expansion in the last few years. Currently, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande is on a visit to France. (PTI)
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday that she had no information to offer on the cancellation of the meeting between Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Xi Jinping of China.
The remarks were made after a Downing Street spokesperson said that a planned meeting between the two leaders at the G20 summit was cancelled due to scheduling issues. (Reuters)
The digital transformation should not be confined to a small part of the human race and its greater benefits will be realised only when digital access becomes truly inclusive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the G-20 summit on Wednesday.
PM Shri @narendramodi at closing ceremony of G20 Summit in Indonesia. https://t.co/6AfV6nWMjh
Modi said India’s experience in the past few years has shown that if digital architecture is made widely accessible, it can bring about socio-economic transformation.
In a session on digital transformation, the prime minister said the principle of ‘data for development’ will be an integral part of the overall theme of India’s upcoming G-20 Presidency.
India will assume G20 Presidency for one year, beginning December 1, 2022. (PTI)
The digital transformation should not be confined to a small part of the human race and its greater benefits will be realised only when digital access becomes truly inclusive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the G-20 summit on Wednesday.
Modi said India’s experience in the past few years has shown that if digital architecture is made widely accessible, it can bring about socio-economic transformation.
In a session on digital transformation, the prime minister said the principle of “data for development” will be an integral part of the overall theme of India’s upcoming G-20 Presidency.
India will assume G20 Presidency for one year, beginning December 1, 2022. (PTI)
A planned meeting between Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Xi Jinping of China at the G-20 summit has been cancelled due to “scheduling issues”, a Downing Street spokesperson said Wednesday. (Reuters)
Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies made a declaration Wednesday saying they “deplore in the strongest terms” Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
The declaration, approved on Wednesday, said most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine but there were other views. It said international law must be upheld and the threat of the use of nuclear weapons was inadmissible and welcomed the Black Sea grain initiative. (Reuters)
At the 27th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP27), this year’s UN climate summit, the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) was launched with India as a partner on Tuesday (November 8). The move, in line with India’s goal to increase its carbon sink, will see New Delhi collaborating with Sri Lanka, Indonesia and other countries to preserve and restore the mangrove forests in the region.
Attending the event in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on Tuesday, Union Minister for Environment Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said that India is home to one of the largest remaining areas of mangroves in the world — the Sundarbans — and has years of expertise in restoration of mangrove cover that can be used to aid global measures in this direction. (Read more)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with other world leaders, visited and planted mangroves in Bali’s largest mangrove forest Taman Hutan Raya Ngurah Rai on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit Bali on Wednesday.
With G-20 leaders at the Mangrove Forest in Bali. @g20org pic.twitter.com/D5L5A1B72e
Modi is in Bali to attend the G20 summit which opened in Bali on Tuesday. Modi was welcomed at the summit venue by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, ahead of the formal opening of the summit.
He had informal interactions with US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and several other global leaders on Tuesday on the sidelines of the summit. (PTI)
➡️Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised “serious concerns” over suspected domestic interference by China in his first talks with President Xi on Tuesday in more than three years, a Canadian government source said.
➡️ Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed global and regional developments in a meeting with Biden and also exchanged courtesies with China’s Xi at the end of a dinner in the first such meeting since deadly border clashes in mid-2020.
➡️ South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called for China to play a bigger role in reining in North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations, his office said, after talks with Xi.
➡️ Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Xi signalled they would seek to move past years of disagreements after the first formal meeting between leaders of the two countries since 2016.
➡️ Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Biden discussed bilateral relations, including trade and security issues, the Turkish presidency said.
➡️ British Prime Minister will meet his Indian counterpart at the summit and set out a professional exchange scheme, his office said, with talks also planned with China’s Xi for a “frank and constructive relationship.” (Reuters)
IN THEIR first meeting in public view since the India-China border standoff began in 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands and spoke to each other at the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali, Indonesia.
(Source: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/8AXXnq3QHI
While there was no substantive readout on their conversation — captured by the cameras at the G20 summit dinner —sources said the “Prime Minister and President Xi Jinping, who were both attending the G20 dinner hosted by the Indonesian President, exchanged courtesies at the conclusion of the dinner”. (Read more)
The UK’s international reputation has taken “a bit of a knock” this year, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday, as he vowed to restore economic stability.
In an interview with the BBC here on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Sunak said tax rises and spending cuts in Thursday’s Autumn Statement were needed to reduce rising inflation and UK public debt. But he promised the decisions would be taken in a “fair” way, and everyone would benefit from reduced debt levels.
“Obviously our international reputation took a bit of a knock as a result of some of the things that happened more recently,” he told the BBC. –PTI
Addressing the Indian diaspora in Indonesia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said: “We are connected by shared heritage and culture.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met US President Joe Biden on the margins of G-20 summit in Bali, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. Modi and Biden reviewed the deepening of India-US partnership including cooperation in several sectors like critical and emerging technologies, and expressed satisfaction about close cooperation between India and US in new groupings such as Quad and I2U2, reported PTI.
➡️ Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said China and Australia needed to work towards a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific as he sat down with Xi for the first such bilateral meeting since 2016.
➡️ British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak extended his support for Ukraine at the G20 while confirming a long-planned order for warships from BAE Systems.
➡️ Europe will engage with China but needs to “rebalance” the relationship to avoid becoming too reliant on the country for areas like innovative technology, European Council President Charles Michel said.
➡️ South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is due to hold talks with Xi on Tuesday while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to meet Xi on Thursday on the sidelines of an APEC summit in Thailand.
➡️ Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is also attending the summit. He is due to visit other Asian states, state media said, without giving details.
➡️ Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has cancelled his meetings after testing positive for COVID-19, according to a statement on his Facebook page. (Reuters)
Stressing that the challenges for the poor citizens of every country are more severe due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the developments in Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday called the crisis of essential goods and lack of financial capacity of the poor a “double whammy”.
Addressing the session on “food and energy security” at the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Modi said that the G-20 leaders have to find a way to return to the path of ceasefire and diplomacy in Ukraine.
“The current shortage of fertilizers in terms of food security is also a huge crisis. Today’s fertilizer shortage is tomorrow’s food crisis, for which the world will not have a solution,” said the PM while asking the world leaders to build a mutual agreement to maintain the supply chain of both manure and food grains stable. (Read more)
Ukraine war, tensions with China loom over big Bali summit
A showdown between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin isn’t happening, but the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing tensions between China and the West will be at the fore when leaders of the world’s biggest economies gather in tropical Bali this week.
The Group of 20 members begin talks on the Indonesian resort island Tuesday under the hopeful theme of “recover together, recover stronger.” While Putin is staying away, Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and get to know new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he will hold extensive discussions with G20 leaders in Bali on key challenges such as reviving global growth, ensuring food and energy security and addressing issues relating to health and digital transformation. A day before PM Modi left for the summit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra underlined Sunday the key challenges that will discussed by world leaders at the summit, including the “ongoing conflict” in Ukraine and “its knock-on effect, such as food security challenges, energy crisis and inflation”. Indonesia is the current chair of the G-20, and India will formally assume the role from December 1 this year. Indonesia President Joko Widodo will hand over G20 Presidency to India at the closing ceremony of the Bali summit.