US-China trade war shouldn't derail G20 summit: India

India on Tuesday contended that the G20 summit in Argentina this week should not be “hijacked” by the US-China trade war. Instead, the premier forum for International Economic Cooperation should dwell on other important issues like volatility in oil prices, it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for Buenos Aires on Wednesday to take part in the G20 summit, which is being hosted by the Argentinian Government. He is likely to hold bilateral meetings with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron and several other leaders on the sideline of the summit in the Argentinian capital, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told media here.

Modi will also attend a meeting of the leaders of the BRICS – a bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Gokhale did not confirm or deny reports that Modi might have a meeting with American President Donald Trump. He said some of the Prime Minister's proposed bilateral meetings were yet to be finalised.

People First session

Modi is likely to speak on his government's flagship schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Digital India, Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra Yojana and others when he makes the lead intervention at the G20 session on “Putting People First”.

The Foreign Secretary said India would argue for “reformed multilateralism” but would insist that multilateralism cannot be replaced by unilateralism.