Modi may meet Biden, Sunak, Macron, other foreign leaders soon

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi may meet United States President Joe Biden just days after commencing his third term at the helm of the government of India.

Soon after taking oath as the prime minister for the third time, Modi may travel to Apulia in Italy to attend the outreach sessions that the G7 leaders will hold with their counterparts from India and other countries as part of the 50th summit of the bloc from June 13 to 15. Though New Delhi is preparing for the prime minister’s visit to Italy, it is likely to factor in the formation of the new government and the first session of the new Lok Sabha before deciding if Modi should embark on the tour.

If Modi attends the G7 summit in Italy, he may have bilateral meetings not only with Biden but also with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom, on the sidelines of the conclave.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada will also attend the G7 summit. Given the state of relations between New Delhi and Ottawa over activities of Khalistani Sikh separatists in Canada, it is not clear if Modi and Trudeau will hold a bilateral meeting on the sideline of the summit.

Modi may also travel to Astana in Kazakhstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s summit from July 3 to 4. Beijing has not yet confirmed if Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the SCO summit or send Premier Li Qiang to represent the communist country in the conclave. If Modi and Xi attend the summit, it will be an opportunity for the two leaders to hold a bilateral meeting and add momentum to the negotiations to completely resolve the stand-off between the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the de facto boundary between the two nations – in eastern Ladakh.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan is also likely to attend the SCO summit in Astana. But a bilateral meeting between Modi and Shehbaz Sharif appears to be unlikely.