US President Biden arrives in India for G20 Summit, to hold bilateral meeting with PM Modi

New Delhi: US President Joe Biden arrived in India on Friday for the G20 Summit during which he will engage with other leaders on issues facing major economies of the world.

He was received at the airport by Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh (retd).  US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti was present at the airport with his daughter.  President Biden interacted with her as also had a brief chat with the union minister.  He also cheered the group of dancers who performed a traditioinal dance to welcome him.           

During the visit,  Biden will hold bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  This is his first visit to India as US President.  

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Air Force One earlier that G20 hosted by India will be an important milestone moment for global cooperation at a critical time.

“As we head into the G20, we’re looking forward to an opportunity to engage on a range of what we think are really significant issues facing all of the major economies of the world,” Sullivan said.

“And that goes from climate, to energy security, to food security, to global macroeconomic stability, to being able to deliver public goods to people everywhere through ambitious initiatives like the World Bank reform initiative that President Biden has been working on. And so, we think this will be a — an important milestone moment for global cooperation at a critical time,” he added.

The 18th G20 Summit is being held at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.

The bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Biden will be held on Friday evening.

"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," Biden had said on X before leaving for Delhi.

Prime Minister Modi was on a state visit to the US from June 21 to 24.

Sullivan said the bilateral meeting will be an opportunity to follow up on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States.

“We will see meaningful progress on a number of issues, including the GE jet engine issue, the MQ-9 Reapers, on 5G/6G, on collaboration on critical and emerging technologies, and progress also in the civil nuclear area as well,” he said.  (ANI)