“Very productive couple of days”: White House official on India’s G20 presidency

New York [US]: US President Joe Biden came with a very positive and optimistic feeling after the G20 Summit in India and a lot of great work was done in those couple of productive days, White House official John Kirby said on Monday.

He further said that everyone is grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the G20 presidency and for executing the agenda.

US National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby was addressing a briefing ahead of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“He (Biden) came away from the G20 feeling very positive and optimistic about the direction.  I mean, there was an awful lot of great work done at the G20 and we’re all grateful to Prime Minister Modi for his presidency, for India’s presidency of it, but also for the way the agenda was executed.  It was a very, very productive couple of days,” Kirby said at the briefing.

On being asked if any bilateral discussion can be expected between India and the US during the forum, Kirby said there is no bilateral discussion on President Biden’s agenda with the Indian delegation.

“I’m not aware of any specific India-focused meetings on his agenda while he’s here in New York.,” Kirby added.

At the recently concluded G20 summit in New Delhi leaders managed to agree on a joint statement laying out shared views on climate change and economic development and called on all states to refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition.
There was also an announcement on a new infrastructure and economic corridor that will connect India, the Middle East and Europe which the US President dubbed a “A really big deal.”

US President Joe Biden recently was in New Delhi to participate in the G20 Summit under India’s presidency.

On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, President Biden and PM Modi held a bilateral meeting, during which they reiterated working for a stronger India-US strategic partnership, and reviewed various areas of cooperation between the two nations.