Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, Delhi, on September 9, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Dan Kitwood

The “health of democracy” is an important issue for the India-U.S. relationship, said senior U.S. White House officials, adding that U.S. President Joe Biden raised these issues in every meeting he has held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Briefing the media after the bilateral meeting on Friday night (September 8) between PM Modi and President Biden, the officials made a reference to the Karnataka State elections, calling Mr. Modi’s public congratulations to the Congress party for its victory in the State, which the ruling BJP lost in May, a “positive indicator” for democracy. 

They said India is “disappointed” that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the G20 summit, said senior U.S. White House officials, adding that there was “clear appreciation” that U.S. President Joe Biden travelled to India for it.

G-20 Summit 2023 in New Delhi Live Updates | September 9

On chances for a joint declaration being forged at the end of the G20 summit, the officials said there had been some forward movement, particularly on climate issues in the draft communique, but that the U.S. would remain “purposeful determined and resolute” on the language over Ukraine. As The Hindu had reported on September 8, officials and diplomats said the language on all non-geopolitical issues had been cleared, but Ukraine remains a sticking point with the U.S. and allies ranged on one side and Russia and China on the other. 

“There was a clear appreciation on the part of India that President Biden is here, and that he made the trip,” said Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council’s Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, adding that “I think it is a disappointment for India that both Russia and China (Presidents) are not here”. 

Highlighting the India-U.S.-Saudi Arabia-India infrastructure corridor which now includes the European Union, that is expected to be announced, Mr. Campbell said that talks are still ongoing with all the parties present in Delhi, and this would be a “major breakthrough that would help fundamental delays with respect to infrastructure and communications, from India with the Middle East (West Asia) and then on to Europe. 

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The officials also faced several questions from the U.S. White House Press Corps members on the lack of access for journalists in the press pool to the bilateral meeting and the main G20 venue. Mr. Campbell said that this had been raised with India, and stressed that despite India’s objections, the U.S. had held a press interaction with PM Modi and President Biden during the state visit in Washington in June. 

“I do want to just underscore for you that in every meeting that I’ve been in, the President is very clear about the importance of the health of democracy. He doesn’t do this in such a way that suggests that one country is lecturing to another but rather that we all face shared challenges, and we think it’s important that we’re constantly asking the hard questions about our democracy.” When pressed on whether U.S. concerns over India have led to any “change” in the Modi government, Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher, the NSC Senior Director for South Asia, pointing to recent Karnataka elections, said that Mr. Modi had congratulated the Congress party on the results, although she said the U.S. would not like to ascribe this to its influence.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host US President Joe Biden for a private dinner tonight at his residence in Delhi, a day before the mega G20 summit.

President Biden, who left for India earlier today, is expected to drive straight to PM Modi’s residence after his arrival, sources say.

The two leaders will have dinner together after bilateral talks.

This is President Biden’s first visit to India, three months after PM Modi’s State visit, during which he hosted the Prime Minister for dinner at the White House. He will leave for Vietnam on Sunday afternoon.

PM Modi and the US President are expected to make meaningful advancements on the GE jet engine deal and civil nuclear technology during their bilateral talks, Reuters has quoted National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as saying. GE opened its gates for the transfer of technology to India for the indigenous manufacture of jet engines in April.

The two leaders are also likely to review ongoing cooperation in areas of clean energy, trade, high-technology, defence and how the two countries can contribute in dealing with some of the pressing challenges facing the world, US officials say.

Before flying to India, Biden posted on his social media account X, “I’m headed to the G20 – the premier forum for international economic cooperation – focused on making progress on Americans’ priorities, delivering for developing nations, and showing our commitment to the G20 as a forum that can deliver.”

The last US President to visit India was Donald Trump in 2020.

PM Modi will hold more than 15 bilateral meetings over three days till Sunday, sources say.

This evening, he will also meet with the leaders of Mauritius and Bangladesh at his Lok Kalyan Marg home.

Tomorrow, apart from G20 meetings, PM Modi will hold bilateral meetings with UK, Japan, Germany and Italy.

On the final day of the G20 summit, the Prime Minister will hold a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron. He will do a pull aside meeting with Canada and bilateral meetings with Comoros, Turkiye, UAE, South Korea, EU/EC, Brazil and Nigeria, say sources.

African Union to join G-20, as Sherpas reach a deal

The African Union (AU) is set to join the G-20 as negotiators agreed on clearing its membership, according to sources privy to the discussions at the Sherpa meeting at a resort on the outskirts of Delhi. This will mean the 55-member AU will join the European Union as the only two regional bodies in the G-20. While it still unclear whether the G-20 will be renamed as the “G-21” after the induction of the AU, Indian officials said the announcement would help “leave a lasting imprint” of the work the Indian Presidency has done in bringing in the Global South’s ambitions to the economic grouping.

Delhi may turn venue for dialogue on reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative

As world leaders gather in Delhi on Friday ahead of the G-20 summit, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is on a mission to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI or BSI), in talks on the sidelines of the summit hosted by India. The deal that facilitates export of grain from Russia and Ukraine lapsed in July. Among those in Delhi, Turkiye President Recep Erdogan, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as leaders of European Union and UN officials will be trying to work a compromise that would give assurances to Russia, for an exchange that would allow grain export from blockaded Ukrainian ports to restart at the earliest, sources told The Hindu. 

At G-20, Japan backs India, not China, as bridge to Global South: Japanese experts

Beyond the immediate outcomes of the G-20 Summit, one key takeaway with longer term implications is the positioning of India as a key bridge to the “Global South” for Japan and the West, in the view of Japanese experts. “Japan sees a rivalry over the leadership of the ‘Global South’ between India and China, and it is in the interest of Japan and the G-7 that India plays a leading role in the ‘Global South’, not China,” said Hiroyuki Akita, Tokyo-based strategic affairs commentator at Nikkei, in an interview with The Hindu.

Modi, Biden to discuss trade issues, jet engine, drone deals during meet

Progress on the deal to jointly manufacture jet engines in India, purchase of MQ-9B armed drones, agreement on civil nuclear liability and trade are expected to be the top issues on the agenda as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden hold bilateral talks late on Friday, a day before the G-20 summit. Further discussions as well as some of the deals are expected in January when Mr. Biden is likely to visit India and officials said India is looking to have the Quad leaders summit on January 26 or a day before possibly with the leaders as chief guests.

Bharat Jodo Yatra was a people’s movement: Congress

Calling the Bharat Jodo Yatra a people’s movement “unequalled” in history, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on September 7 said the Yatra seeks to bring real issues like economic inequalities, price rise, unemployment, social injustice and subversion of the Constitution to the fore. Mr. Kharge also slammed the trend of “manufacturing headlines” to divert attention from the real issues of the people.

Assets worth over $1.8 billion recovered under Fugitive Economic Offenders Act in four years: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday said assets worth more than $12 billion had been attached since 2014 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), while in the past about four years, assets worth over $1.8 billion had been recovered under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA). In his inaugural address at the first-ever International Day of Police Cooperation, after conferring police medals to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials at an investiture ceremony at the agency headquarters, Dr. Singh said the FEOA was brought in by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government.

U.N. chief says ‘systematic repression’ crushing Myanmar democracy hopes

Hopes of a return to democracy in junta-ruled Myanmar are being crushed by “systematic repression”, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on September 7 at a summit in Indonesia with the United States, China and regional leaders. Myanmar has been ravaged by deadly violence since a 2021 military coup ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, unleashing a bloody crackdown on dissent.

Indonesia warns against new conflicts as U.S., China, Russia attend ASEAN summit

Indonesia warned leaders including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov against sharpening rivalries as they wrapped up an East Asia summit in Jakarta on Thursday. The meeting brought Washington and Beijing into contact a day after Mr. Li warned major powers must manage differences to avoid a “new Cold War”, and ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi this week that Chinese President Xi Jinping will miss. Interactions between the officials from the world’s top two economies are being closely watched as they seek to control tensions that risk flaring anew over issues ranging from Taiwan to ties with Moscow and the competition for influence in the Pacific.

India keen on having Quad leaders as Chief Guests for 2024 Republic Day parade

India is discussing the possibility of inviting leaders of the Quad grouping, comprising of India, Australia, Japan and the U.S., to the Republic Day parade on January 26, diplomatic sources confirmed. The possibility of U.S. President Joe Biden being the Chief Guest for the parade, with the Quad summit held a day prior, on January 25, is also being looked into, but given that January 26 is observed as Australia Day, it would be extremely difficult for their Prime Minister to be in India on that day, an official source said.

Caste discrimination survey in IIT-Delhi commenced and withdrawn

After two Dalit students allegedly committed suicide at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi in the past two months, a campus-wide survey on caste discrimination circulated by the institute’s Board of Student Publications (BSP) was been suspended within hours of commencing. As soon as the survey was shared, complaints said the survey’s design was “biased, insensitive, and problematic”, with the institute’s official Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST) Cell stating that it had not been consulted on the survey.

Authorities forced us off the streets in the name of G-20 security, say city vendors

While the city is all set to host the G-20 Summit, street vendors say the authorities have forced thousands of them to vacate public space over the past month. Shri Ram, a member of the town vending committee (TVC) of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), told The Hindu that around 50,000 people have been displaced. The TVC, which comprises representatives from the civic body, police, and street vendors, is responsible for assigning designated zones to the vendors.

Kings Cup 2023 | India lose to Iraq in penalty shootout after conceding debatable penalty, face Lebanon in bronze medal playoff

A Sunil Chhetri-less India conceded a late goal off a debatable penalty to miss out on their first ever win over higher-ranked Iraq, who won the King’s Cup semifinal clash via penalty shootout here on Thursday. India will take on Lebanon in the bronze-medal playoff, which will be followed by the summit clash between Iraq and Thailand on Sunday. In the other semifinal at the 700th Anniversary Stadium, Thailand defeated Lebanon 2-1.

Gukesh excited about the Asian Games, feels India has a fair chance

He was the undoubted star of last year’s Chess Olympiad in Chennai, and now D. Gukesh is excited about the Asian Games, beginning at Hangzhou later this month. Chess is making a comeback to the Asian Games after a gap of 13 years, just in time for the massively talented young Indians like Gukesh. “I am very excited about my first ever Asian Games,” he said at a media interaction here on Thursday. “It is a prestigious event and I look forward to watching athletes in other sports. I love badminton, and I would like to watch it if I could.” Gukesh, who recently broke into the World top 10, believes India has fair chances on the chessboard. “But there are other strong teams,” he said. “And we had a camp here with Boris Gelfand. It went off very well. It was very tiring, which is usually good. The camp was brilliant.”