The Congress on Friday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attending the G-20 leaders’ summit in South Africa as the US has decided to boycott the annual inter-governmental meeting.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, also claimed that the Prime Minister did not go to Kuala Lumpur for the recent India-ASEAN summit to avoid face-to-face talks with US President Donald Trump.
“The Prime Minister is attending the G-20 summit in South Africa today and tomorrow. He is doing so safely and securely as President Trump and the US are boycotting the summit. Recall that a few days ago, Mr Modi had not gone to Kuala Lumpur for the India-ASEAN summit because he would have come face to face with President Trump there,” Ramesh wrote on Twitter.
He wrote, “It is extraordinary that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the US opposes South Africa’s G-20 themes of solidarity, equality and stability on the grounds that they amount to anti-Americanism. Incidentally, this is the same Marco Rubio who first announced to the world at 5:37 pm on May 10 the sudden halt to Operation Vermilion.”
Ramesh also pointed out that it would be interesting to see whether Prime Minister Modi would attend the next G-20 summit, which the United States is scheduled to host in 2026.
He said, “The presidency of the G-20 changes every year. India took over from Indonesia in November 2023 and handed it over to Brazil in November 2024. Now South Africa has to hand it over to the US, who will not be present this time. Therefore, the next G-20 summit to be held after a year will be in the US. By then, probably, India would have got a trade (or) deal with the US. But if in the last seven months, President Trump has claimed 61 times He has stopped Operation Sindoor, imagine how many times he will repeat these claims in the next twelve months.”
“Only time will tell whether the hugs with ‘my good friend’ will resume or just a handshake or whether Mr Modi will not go at all,” the Congress leader said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for Johannesburg, South Africa to attend the G-20 summit. In his departure statement, Prime Minister Modi described the G-20 summit being held in Africa as a “special summit”.
South Africa will host the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the first to be held on African soil. During India’s presidency of the G20 in 2023, the African Union will become a member of the G20.
The Prime Minister expressed his enthusiasm to meet the Indian diaspora in South Africa, which has one of the largest and most vibrant Indian-origin communities outside India. He described his upcoming meeting with the Indian diaspora as a moment of personal warmth and cultural connect.
