“I look forward to speaking with Prime Minister Modi about the fact that India, for years having put very high Tariffs against the United States, just recently increased the Tariffs even further. This is unacceptable and the Tariffs must be withdrawn!” Mr Trump tweeted. The PM Modi-Donald Trump meeting assumes significance in the wake of the strain that has emerged in the bilateral ties on several trade and economic issues.
India had imposed retaliatory tariffs on 28 US items earlier this month, after the Donald Trump administration ended trade concessions for India on June 1.
The Prime Minister’s Japan trip comes a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Delhi, met him and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. Mr Pompeo admitted to Washington having a divergence of view with New Delhi on issues such as trade, but downplayed it by saying that “great friends are bound to have differences”. Both Mr Jaishankar and Mr Pompeo said they would look at ways to work through these issues, including the United States’ opposition to the $5-billion defence deal for S-400 air defence systems between India and Russia.
Mike Pompeo defended his government’s decision of ended trade concessions for India, stating that the US deserves greater market access.
Before flying to Japan, the Prime Minister said said the two-day Osaka summit that begins on Friday will also be an important stepping stone for India towards hosting the G20 summit in 2022 “when we usher in a New India in the 75th anniversary year of our Independence”.
PM Modi said that issues such as women empowerment, artificial intelligence and common efforts to address challenges like terrorism will be high on his agenda. “The summit will provide an important opportunity to reiterate and reinforce our strong support to reformed multilateralism, which is crucial for preserving rule-based international order in today’s fast-changing world,” he said.
The two-day summit that begins on Friday will be PM Modi’s sixth G20 summit.
PM Modi will also participate in the Russia-India-China (RIC) and the Japan-America-India (JAI) trilaterals, as well as in the meeting of BRICS leaders.
Donald Trump will also trade talks with China’s Xi Jinping on Saturday. Trump – known for preferring one-on-one deal-making over multilateral discussions – is set to hold a total of nine bilateral meetings during his time in Japan, including one with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
The G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US.
