PM Modi Leaves for 3-day Visit to Bali to Join G20 Summit, Biden, Xi to Attend

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, 14 Nov. 2022 embarked on a three-day visit to Bali to attend the 17th G20 (Group of twenty countries) Leaders’ Summit. During his visit, PM is expected to hold bilateral meetings with various G20 leaders.

Ahead of his official visit, PM Modi said, “On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, I will meet with leaders of several other participating countries, and review the progress in India’s bilateral relations with them.”

This G20 Summit is particularly special because India will hold the presidency of the G20 Summit from 1st December 2022 for a one-year period, and the presidency handover will take place during the Summit in Bali.

PM also said that he will have extensive discussions with other G20 leaders on key issues of global concern, such as reviving global growth, food & energy security, environment, health, and digital transformation, the statement reads.

During the visit, PM Modi will hold talks on key issues of global concern under the Summit theme of “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”.

”In a significant moment for our country and citizens, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo will hand over the G20 Presidency to India at the closing ceremony of the Bali Summit. India will officially assume the G20 Presidency from 1st December 2022. I will also extend my personal invitation to G20 Members and other invitees to our G20 Summit next year,” according to the statement citing PM Modi.

PM Modi also said that during his interactions at the G20 Summit, he will highlight India’s achievements, and our unwavering commitment to collectively address global challenges. India’s G20 Presidency will be grounded in the theme “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth One Family One Future”, which underlines the message of equitable growth and a shared future for all.

The Bali Summit, slated for November 15-16, comprises three working sessions at the leaders’ level, in which PM Modi will be participating. These include sessions on food and energy security, a session on digital transformation, and a session on health.

In a special press briefing on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said G20 deliberations have acquired a greater salience in the current global economic and political context.

He said that the world is currently struggling with many important challenges coming on top of the existing environmental challenges, lack of progress in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the pandemic.

“These include uneven post-pandemic economic recovery, debt vulnerabilities especially in the countries of the global south, the ongoing conflict in Europe, and its knock-on effects, such as food security challenges, energy crisis and inflation on all countries of the world,” Kwatra said.

G20 leaders will discuss these challenges and underscore the importance of closer multilateral cooperation to help overcome these challenges. As the incoming presidency, India has always actively engaged in the past and during this presidency of Indonesia also with all the G20 countries and participants throughout this year.

“Our position has been of steadfast and strong support to Indonesia, which as the Presidency has shown strong leadership in ensuring that the G20 platform discusses issues of substantive interest to the world.

The G20 Summit program also includes a leaders’ visit to what is called Bahasa Indonesia, Taman Hutan Raya, a mangrove forest in Bali, on November 16.

“As you know, mangroves are an important refuge of coastal biodiversity and act as bio shields against extreme climatic events and as important carbon sinks. India’s own mangrove cover is significant, with one of the highest biodiversity in the world. We also recently agreed to join the Global Mangrove Alliance, which was launched jointly by Indonesia and UAE,” Kwatra said.