New Delhi: The visit of US President Joe Biden to New Delhi to attend the G20 meeting holds immense significance in the face of changing geopolitical scenarios. Biden will arrive in India on September 7 to attend the G20 Summit and hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders. Speaking on the diplomatic implications of the visit, a foreign policy expert in India opines that President Biden's visit to New Delhi is significant as he will also be facing the elections in 2024 and the India Connect tends to help with influential Indian diaspora more so now when Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is emerging as a major challenger to him.
In conversation with ETV Bharat, India’s former ambassador Anil Trigunayat, who has worked in the economic department, West Asia, and North Africa and Consular Divisions in the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “Biden’s presence, along with other leaders is significant for the success of G20 outcome, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to let it pass. During the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the USA in June when he invited President Joe Biden to visit India for G20, the US president readily agreed and confirmed on several occasions that he was eagerly looking forward to the visit to New Delhi for the G20 Summit.
“While the visit will mainly revolve around the G20 Summit and from the US perspective, the Russia-Ukraine war and Blacksea grain deal, the bilateral meeting will further give a push to the important initiatives and concert of democracy. President Biden will also be facing the elections in 2024 and the India Connect tends to help with influential Indian Diaspora more so now when Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is emerging as a major challenger to him," said former ambassador Trigunayat.
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According to the White House statement, while in New Delhi, President Biden will also commend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership of the G20 and reaffirm the US commitment to the G20 as the premier forum of economic cooperation, including by hosting it in 2026. Climate change, green energy and the Ukraine crisis are expected to be key agendas of the G20 Summit, the White House noted.
Trigunayat further explained that India and the US are global comprehensive strategic partners and in the US foreign policy, India holds an important and critical place, which is evident in the crucial steps and preferential initiatives undertaken in high technology, AI, Quantum Computing, defence and security in its various dimensions "as well as in ensuring Indian quest for becoming a part of critical global value and supply chains."
Earlier, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US in June, Joe Biden expressed his support for the G20 summit and said he was looking forward to attending the meeting in person. Moreover, President Biden’s visit reflects the diplomatic significance of this gesture and its potential to reinforce the relationship between India and the United States. According to sources, the G20 Summit is likely to be attended by 29 heads of state as well as top officials of the European Union and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations.
