G20 Summit in Delhi: US Prez Biden Tests Covid-19 Negative, to Meet PM Modi on Friday

US President Joe Biden has tested negative for Covid-19 and will travel to India on Thursday to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi, the White House said on Tuesday.

The US president will also have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The announcement comes a day after First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for coronavirus on Monday.

Biden will also be abiding by the CDC guidelines, and will only remove his mask when he is socially distanced from others.

“The US President will travel to India on Thursday to attend the G20 Summit,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told a press conference at the White House.

President Biden will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi. Biden will participate in the official sessions of the G20 Summit on Saturday and Sunday, he added.

At the G20 Summit, Biden will call for a “just and durable peace” for Ukraine, the White House said.

India, President of the G20, will host global leaders for the Summit scheduled to take place on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi. During the Summit, Biden will commend Modi for his leadership of the G20, the White House said.

On Saturday (September 9) and Sunday (September 10), the President will participate in the G20 summit, where he and G20 partners will discuss a range of joint efforts to tackle global issues, including the clean energy transition and combatting climate change.

They will also mitigate the economic and social impacts of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, and increase the capacity of multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, to better fight poverty, including by addressing global challenges, the White House said.

While in New Delhi, the President will also commend Prime Minister 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, it said.

The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies. The members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade and about two-thirds of the world population.

Biden will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam on September 10. While in Hanoi, the President will meet with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other key leaders to discuss ways to further deepen cooperation between the United States and Vietnam, it said.

With agency inputs