New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday met several global leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali.
An official spokemsan in a statement issued on Press Information Bureau said that the PM met the Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Bali.
This was the third meeting between the leaders this year; the previous meetings took place during PM’s visit to Berlin on May 2, 2022, for the 6th India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations, which was followed by PM’s visit to Schloss Elmau in Germany, as partner country for the G7 Summit at Chancellor Scholz’s invitation.
The leaders discussed the wide range of bilateral cooperation between India and Germany, which entered a new phase with the signing of the Partnership on Green and Sustainable Development by the Prime Minister and Chancellor during the IGC. They also agreed to deepen trade and investment ties and further increase cooperation in the areas of defence and security, migration and mobility, and infrastructure.
Both leaders agreed to enhance cooperation and coordination in multilateral forums including G20 and the UN.
The PM also met President of France Emmanuel Macron for a working lunch on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit.
The two leaders reviewed ongoing collaboration in diverse areas like defence, civil nuclear, trade and investment.
They also welcomed the deepening of cooperation in new areas of economic engagement.
Regional and global issues of mutual interest were also discussed.
The PM also met the PM of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit.
He recalled his meeting with PM Lee on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Rome last year.
Both the PM took note of the strong strategic partnership between India and Singapore and regular high-level ministerial and institutional interactions, including the inaugural session of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, held at New Delhi in September 2022.
The two leaders reiterated their commitment to further expand trade and investment linkages between the two countries particularly in Fintech, renewable energy, skill development, health and pharmaceutical sectors.
PM Modi invited Singapore to invest in various sectors including Green economy, infrastructure, and digitalisation and to take advantage of India’s National Infrastructure Pipeline, Asset Monetisation Plan and the Gati Shakti Plan.
The two leaders also exchanged views on recent global and regional developments. PM Modi appreciated Singapore’s role in India’s Act East Policy and its role as the country coordinator of ASEAN-India relations from 2021-2024.
Both the leaders reiterated their desire for working together for furthering the India-ASEAN multifaceted cooperation.
PM Modi conveyed best wishes to PM Lee for the future and invited him to visit India for the G-20 Summit next year.
PM Modi also met Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit.
He congratulated PM Meloni on her election as the first woman PM of Italy.
The two leaders discussed the deepening of bilateral cooperation in various sectors including trade and investment, counter-terrorism, and people to people ties.
The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
PM Modi said he looks forward to celebrating 75 years of India-Italy diplomatic relations and welcoming PM Meloni in India next year for the G-20 Summit.
He also met PM of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit.
This was the first meeting between the two leaders.
PM Modi congratulated PM Sunak on assuming office.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the state of the wide-ranging India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and progress on the Roadmap 2030 for Future Relations.
The two leaders appreciated the importance of working together in bilateral and multilateral forums including G20 and the Commonwealth.
Discussions touched upon important sectors of collaboration such as trade, mobility, defence and security.
Earlier, addressing a session on digital transformation at the G20 Summit in Bali, PM Modi said that proper use of digital technologies could become a force multiplier in the decades-long global fight against poverty.
Underlining the need for expanding the benefits of digital technology across the world, he said that during India’s presidency of the G20 – which would commence from December 1 – it would work jointly with G20 partners towards achieving this objective.
Citing the benefits of digital technology during the Covid-19 pandemic, Modi said: “Digital solutions can also be helpful in the fight against climate change, as we all saw in the examples of remote-working and paperless green offices during COVID-19. But these benefits will be realised only when digital access is truly inclusive and when the use of digital technology is really widespread.”
However, he noted that it is the responsibility of all G20 leaders to ensure that the benefits of digital transformation should not be confined to a small part of the human race.
The PM shared India’s experience of the past few years of making digital architecture inclusive and how it has brought about a socio-economic transformation.
“Digital use can bring scale and speed. Transparency can be brought in governance. India has developed digital public goods whose basic architecture has in-built democratic principles,” the PM told the gathering of world leaders.
He said that India had made digital access public, but noted that at the international level, there is still a huge digital divide as citizens of most developing countries of the world do not have any kind of digital identity.
“Only 50 countries have digital payment systems. Can we take a pledge together that in the next 10 years we will bring digital transformation in the life of every human being, so that no person in the world will be deprived of the benefits of digital technology,” the PM said.