G20 Summit: S Jaishankar discusses 'important regional concerns' with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

Rome: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here on Saturday, discussing issues relating to the bilateral strategic partnership and updated each other on “important regional concerns”. Jaishankar is accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ongoing G20 Summit from October 30-31. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval are the members of the prime minister’s delegation. “A very good meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinkien in Rome on sidelines of G20 Summit. Discussed a wide gamut of issues relating to our partnership. Updated each other on important regional concerns,” Jaishankar tweeted along with a photograph of himself with the US Secretary of State. The meeting took place amidst growing international concern over China’s aggressive moves in the Indo-Pacific region. Modi is attending the summit at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Italy has held the presidency of the G20 since December last year. Earlier on Saturday, Modi was seen interacting with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, on the sidelines of the summit. President Biden had hosted Prime Minister Modi at the White House on September 24 for the first in-person meeting. The G20 is a leading global forum that brings together the world’s major economies. Its members account for more than 80 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of the population of the planet. The forum has met every year since 1999 and includes, since 2008, a yearly summit, with the participation of the respective heads of state and government. The Rome summit is being attended by heads of state and government of G20 member countries, the European Union, and other invited countries and several international organisations. The summit is centred around the theme ‘People, Planet, Prosperity’, focussing on the areas of recovery from the pandemic and strengthening of global health governance.