NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was earlier reported to have skipped out on attending an Asean summit to avoid broaching the issue of Pakistan in a possible meeting with United States President Donald Trump, will be attending the G20 summit in South Africa which has been boycotted by the American leader.
The Kolkata-based Telegraph reported that Modi had avoided the last two multilateral platforms where the US President was present — the Asean summit in Malaysia and Trump’s Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt — “resulting in speculation that the prime minister was trying to avoid a meeting with the American leader till the India-US trade deal is finalised”.
Trump’s administration has said it will not attend the first G20 summit in Africa, alleging that the host country, previously ruled by its white minority apartheid system until 1994, discriminates against white people.
The US president has also rejected South Africa’s agenda for the November 22-23 summit of promoting solidarity and helping developing nations adapt to worse weather disasters, transition to clean energy and cut their excessive debt costs.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday had confirmed Modi’s participation in the G20 summit.
Prior to embarking on the trip, Modi said he will present India’s perspective at the forum in line with its vision of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and ‘One Earth, One Family and One Future’.
“Will be attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is a particularly special summit as it is being held in Africa. Various global issues will be discussed there. Will be meeting various world leaders during the summit,” Modi posted on social media platform X.
“During the visit, I also look forward to my interaction with the Indian diaspora in South Africa, which is one of the largest outside India,” Modi said in the statement he shared along with his post on X.
On the margins of the summit, Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg. He is attending at the invitation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Earlier this week, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had said that Modi was expected to speak at all three sessions of the summit.
According to Press Trust of India, a top official of the MEA on Thursday had said that he would not like to prejudge what would figure in the leaders’ declaration, but all important matters relevant from the perspective of India and the Global South will be “highlighted by our leadership”.
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