Obama, Manmohan may have pullaside meeting at G20 Summit

PTI Updated - November 15, 2017 at 05:45 PM.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on his arrival at Frankfurt Airport during his journey to Los Cabos, Mexico on Saturday.

The possibility of a pullaside meeting between the US President, Mr Barack Obama, and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during the G20 Summit here is not being ruled out, days after the two leaders agreed to work together to address the faltering global economy and the painful Euro Zone crisis.

Dr Singh, who will be participating at the seventh Summit of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries (G20), has an impressive array of bilateral meetings lined up with world leaders during the two-day deliberations taking place in this Mexican coastal resort against the backdrop of problems afflicting the 17-nation Euro Zone.

When asked whether there will be a bilateral meeting between Mr Obama and Dr Singh, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Ranjan Mathai, told reporters that though nothing has been scheduled, but there could be a pullaside meeting.

Dr Singh and Mr Obama share an excellent bonhomie, with the President often turning to the economist-turned politician for advice on economic issues.

Dr Singh is due to have bilaterals with the host country President, Mr Felipe Calderon, German Chancellor, Ms Angela Merkel, Canadian and British Premiers, Mr Stephen Harper and Mr David Cameron, French President, Mr Francois Hollande, and Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin.

It will be the first meeting between Dr Singh and Mr Hollande after the latter dethroned Mr Nicolas Sarkozy in the recent Presidential elections.

As the current Chair of the five-nation BRICS bloc, Dr Manmohan Singh will also be having an interaction with the leaders of the grouping with whom he is not having any bilateral meetings. They include the Chinese President, Mr Hu Jintao.

Besides India and China, the other members of the bloc are Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

Mr Obama had telephoned Dr Singh last Thursday during which the two leaders agreed to work to make the Los Cabos summit a success.

Published on June 18, 2012 04:56