PM Modi, Trump Discuss India-China Border Tension, George Floyd Protests
PM Modi, Trump Discuss India-China Border Tension, George Floyd Protests
US President Donald Trump also invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the next G7 Summit to be held in US
All IndiaReported by Akhilesh Sharma, Edited by Debanish AchomUpdated: June 02, 2020 11:18 pm IST
PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone today, the government said
New Delhi: The border tension between India and China figured among a range of important issues that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed during a 25-minute phone conversation today, the government said in a statement.
The statement did not give specifics of what the two leaders discussed about the standoff between the militaries of India and China near eastern Ladakh.
Mr Trump claimed last week that he offered to mediate between India and China. However, top government sources had contradicted the claim, asserting that there had been no recent interaction between the two leaders. China also rejected Mr Trump's offer, citing the two neighbours are capable of properly resolving the issues through dialogue and consultation.
The US on Monday had said it was "extremely concerned" by the Chinese aggression against India along the Line of Actual Control. "I strongly urge China to respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions with India," said Elliot Engel, chief of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
India has said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops along the Line of Actual Control or LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim, and strongly refuted Beijing's contention that the escalating tension between the two armies was triggered by trespassing of Indian forces across the Chinese side.
The standoff is the most serious since India and China, who fought a brief war in 1962, were locked in a similar faceoff in Doklam, in the eastern Himalayas, that lasted nearly three months in 2017.
Mr Trump also invited PM Modi to the Group of Seven or G7 Summit in the US, the statement said. "President Trump… conveyed his desire to expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India," the government said.
"Prime Minister Modi expressed concern regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation," the statement said.
The two leaders discussed "topical issues, such as the COVID-19 situation in the two countries… and the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation", the statement said.
Mr Trump last week severed the US' ties with the WHO, which he said failed to do enough to combat the initial spread of the coronavirus. Mr first suspended funding to the UN agency a month ago, accusing it of mismanaging its handling of the global pandemic.
Then he accused the Geneva-based WHO of being a "puppet" of China, and said the funding freeze would become permanent unless it made "substantive improvements".
In break from past, Delhi says Modi, Trump discussed India-China border situation
The Ministry of External Affairs said the border situation figured in the phone conversation between the two leaders when Trump called up Modi, two days after he said he would like to include India in the expanded G7.
Written by Shubhajit Roy | New Delhi | Updated: June 3, 2020 6:48:53 am
Trump had earlier suggested that the Group of 7 be called “G10 or G11”, and proposed that the grouping meet in September or November this year.
X
Inviting Modi to the next G7 Summit to be held in the US, he conveyed his desire to “expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India”.
In a departure from precedent, New Delhi Tuesday said US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the “situation on the India-China border”.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said the border situation figured in the phone conversation between the two leaders when Trump called up Modi, two days after he said he would like to include India in the expanded G7.
Inviting Modi to the next G7 Summit to be held in the US, he conveyed his desire to “expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India”.
Last week, Trump claimed he had spoken to Modi about the India-China border, but sources in New Delhi said there had been “no recent contact” between the two leaders. In a tweet earlier, he had called the LAC situation a “raging border dispute”.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute. Thank you!
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4:51 PM - May 27, 2020
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Tuesday’s phone call was their first conversation in the backdrop of the tensions along the LAC. It followed the call between US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last week.
This Indo-US exchange at the highest level comes amid a bruising war of words between Washington and Beijing on a range of issues — from Hong Kong’s autonomy to Taiwan, origins of the Covid-19 virus to South China Sea tensions and a trade war.
Explained | The G-7 group, in which Trump says he wants to include India
Referring to talks on the G7 expansion proposal, the MEA said: “Prime Minister Modi commended President Trump for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging the fact that such an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world. The Prime Minister said that India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed Summit.”
It said the Prime Minister “expressed concern regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation”.
The two leaders, the MEA said, also “exchanged views on other topical issues, such as the COVID-19 situation in the two countries, the situation on the India-China border, and the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation”.
Also read | Line of Actual Control: Where it is located, and where India and China differ
“President Trump warmly recalled his visit to India in February this year. Prime Minister Modi said that the visit had been memorable and historic on many accounts, and had also added new dynamism to the bilateral relationship. The exceptional warmth and candour of the conversation reflected the special nature of the Indo-US ties, as well as the friendship and mutual esteem between both leaders,” the MEA said.
Following the phone call, Modi, in a tweet, said: “Had a warm and productive conversation with my friend President @realDonaldTrump. We discussed his plans for the US Presidency of G-7, the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other issues. The richness and depth of India-US consultations will remain an important pillar of the post-COVID global architecture.”
Narendra Modi
✔
@narendramodi
Had a warm and productive conversation with my friend President @realDonaldTrump. We discussed his plans for the US Presidency of G-7, the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other issues.
98.2K
9:19 PM - Jun 2, 2020
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Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry said: “The idea of an expanded #G7summit is in general a step in the right direction, but does not really mean a true representation. For instance, it is obvious that it is hardly possible to implement serious global initiatives without #China”. The statement was tweeted by the Russian embassy in India.
Modi, Trump discuss border row with China, WHO reforms during phone call
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SRIDHAR KUMARASWAMI
PublishedJun 3, 2020, 9:53 am ISTUpdatedJun 3, 2020, 10:10 am IST
The conversation follows a controversy last week when President Trump had claimed that an “unhappy” PM Modi had spoken to him.
File image of US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (AP)
File image of US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (AP)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the tense situation on the Sino-Indian border in the wake of the military face-off with China in a “warm and productive” conversation with United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening.
In another important move, the US President also expressed his desire to expand the G-7 grouping to include India and invited PM Modi to attend the next G-7 Summit to be held at Camp David in the US sometime in September or later this year. The invite was welcomed by PM Modi who praised President Trump for his “creative and far-sighted approach”.
Other issues discussed during the phone call included the current civil unrest in the US following the death of an African-American man there as also the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation (WHO) amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
“The two leaders also exchanged views on other topical issues, such as ... the situation on the India-China border,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The discussion on the situation at the Sino-Indian border by PM Modi in a conversation with a top leader of a third country shows the seriousness with which it is being viewed both by close strategic friends India and the US.
New Dehi said “the exceptional warmth and candour of the conversation reflected the special nature of the Indo-US ties, as well as the friendship and mutual esteem between both leaders”.
PM Modi too tweeted, “Had a warm and productive conversation with my friend President @realDonaldTrump. We discussed his plans for the US Presidency of G-7, the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other issues. The richness and depth of India-US consultations will remain an important pillar of the post-COVID global architecture.”
This follows a controversy last week when President Trump had claimed that an “unhappy” PM Modi had spoken to him about the same issue but as it turned out, no such conversation had taken place then.
The MEA in its statement on Tuesday evening said that during the conversation, PM Modi also expressed “concern” regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and “conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation”. The US is currently experiencing severe unrest following the death of an African-American man there.
The MEA also said President Trump — while inviting PM Modi for the G-7 Summit — had conveyed his desire to “expand the ambit” of the G-7 grouping beyond the existing membership, “to include other important countries including India”.
New Delhi added, “Prime Minister Modi commended President Trump for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging the fact that such an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world. The Prime Minister said that India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed Summit.”
India is not a member of the G-7 grouping that comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, termed as seven of the "largest" advanced economies in the world. This time, apart from India, President Trump is also reportedly inviting leaders of Russia, South Korea and Australia to participate.
New Delhi also said the two leaders also discussed the Coronavirus pandemic and the “need for reforms in the World Health Organisation (WHO)”, just days after the US President announced termination of American funding to the WHO.
US President Donald Trump also invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the next G7 Summit to be held in US
All IndiaReported by Akhilesh Sharma, Edited by Debanish AchomUpdated: June 02, 2020 11:18 pm IST
PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone today, the government said
New Delhi: The border tension between India and China figured among a range of important issues that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed during a 25-minute phone conversation today, the government said in a statement.
The statement did not give specifics of what the two leaders discussed about the standoff between the militaries of India and China near eastern Ladakh.
Mr Trump claimed last week that he offered to mediate between India and China. However, top government sources had contradicted the claim, asserting that there had been no recent interaction between the two leaders. China also rejected Mr Trump's offer, citing the two neighbours are capable of properly resolving the issues through dialogue and consultation.
The US on Monday had said it was "extremely concerned" by the Chinese aggression against India along the Line of Actual Control. "I strongly urge China to respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions with India," said Elliot Engel, chief of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
India has said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops along the Line of Actual Control or LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim, and strongly refuted Beijing's contention that the escalating tension between the two armies was triggered by trespassing of Indian forces across the Chinese side.
The standoff is the most serious since India and China, who fought a brief war in 1962, were locked in a similar faceoff in Doklam, in the eastern Himalayas, that lasted nearly three months in 2017.
Mr Trump also invited PM Modi to the Group of Seven or G7 Summit in the US, the statement said. "President Trump… conveyed his desire to expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India," the government said.
"Prime Minister Modi expressed concern regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation," the statement said.
The two leaders discussed "topical issues, such as the COVID-19 situation in the two countries… and the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation", the statement said.
Mr Trump last week severed the US' ties with the WHO, which he said failed to do enough to combat the initial spread of the coronavirus. Mr first suspended funding to the UN agency a month ago, accusing it of mismanaging its handling of the global pandemic.
Then he accused the Geneva-based WHO of being a "puppet" of China, and said the funding freeze would become permanent unless it made "substantive improvements".
In break from past, Delhi says Modi, Trump discussed India-China border situation
The Ministry of External Affairs said the border situation figured in the phone conversation between the two leaders when Trump called up Modi, two days after he said he would like to include India in the expanded G7.
Written by Shubhajit Roy | New Delhi | Updated: June 3, 2020 6:48:53 am
Trump had earlier suggested that the Group of 7 be called “G10 or G11”, and proposed that the grouping meet in September or November this year.
X
Inviting Modi to the next G7 Summit to be held in the US, he conveyed his desire to “expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India”.
In a departure from precedent, New Delhi Tuesday said US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the “situation on the India-China border”.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said the border situation figured in the phone conversation between the two leaders when Trump called up Modi, two days after he said he would like to include India in the expanded G7.
Inviting Modi to the next G7 Summit to be held in the US, he conveyed his desire to “expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India”.
Last week, Trump claimed he had spoken to Modi about the India-China border, but sources in New Delhi said there had been “no recent contact” between the two leaders. In a tweet earlier, he had called the LAC situation a “raging border dispute”.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute. Thank you!
184K
4:51 PM - May 27, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy
58.5K people are talking about this
Tuesday’s phone call was their first conversation in the backdrop of the tensions along the LAC. It followed the call between US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last week.
This Indo-US exchange at the highest level comes amid a bruising war of words between Washington and Beijing on a range of issues — from Hong Kong’s autonomy to Taiwan, origins of the Covid-19 virus to South China Sea tensions and a trade war.
Explained | The G-7 group, in which Trump says he wants to include India
Referring to talks on the G7 expansion proposal, the MEA said: “Prime Minister Modi commended President Trump for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging the fact that such an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world. The Prime Minister said that India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed Summit.”
It said the Prime Minister “expressed concern regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation”.
The two leaders, the MEA said, also “exchanged views on other topical issues, such as the COVID-19 situation in the two countries, the situation on the India-China border, and the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation”.
Also read | Line of Actual Control: Where it is located, and where India and China differ
“President Trump warmly recalled his visit to India in February this year. Prime Minister Modi said that the visit had been memorable and historic on many accounts, and had also added new dynamism to the bilateral relationship. The exceptional warmth and candour of the conversation reflected the special nature of the Indo-US ties, as well as the friendship and mutual esteem between both leaders,” the MEA said.
Following the phone call, Modi, in a tweet, said: “Had a warm and productive conversation with my friend President @realDonaldTrump. We discussed his plans for the US Presidency of G-7, the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other issues. The richness and depth of India-US consultations will remain an important pillar of the post-COVID global architecture.”
Narendra Modi
✔
@narendramodi
Had a warm and productive conversation with my friend President @realDonaldTrump. We discussed his plans for the US Presidency of G-7, the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other issues.
98.2K
9:19 PM - Jun 2, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy
18.2K people are talking about this
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry said: “The idea of an expanded #G7summit is in general a step in the right direction, but does not really mean a true representation. For instance, it is obvious that it is hardly possible to implement serious global initiatives without #China”. The statement was tweeted by the Russian embassy in India.
Modi, Trump discuss border row with China, WHO reforms during phone call
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SRIDHAR KUMARASWAMI
PublishedJun 3, 2020, 9:53 am ISTUpdatedJun 3, 2020, 10:10 am IST
The conversation follows a controversy last week when President Trump had claimed that an “unhappy” PM Modi had spoken to him.
File image of US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (AP)
File image of US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (AP)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the tense situation on the Sino-Indian border in the wake of the military face-off with China in a “warm and productive” conversation with United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening.
In another important move, the US President also expressed his desire to expand the G-7 grouping to include India and invited PM Modi to attend the next G-7 Summit to be held at Camp David in the US sometime in September or later this year. The invite was welcomed by PM Modi who praised President Trump for his “creative and far-sighted approach”.
Other issues discussed during the phone call included the current civil unrest in the US following the death of an African-American man there as also the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation (WHO) amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
“The two leaders also exchanged views on other topical issues, such as ... the situation on the India-China border,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The discussion on the situation at the Sino-Indian border by PM Modi in a conversation with a top leader of a third country shows the seriousness with which it is being viewed both by close strategic friends India and the US.
New Dehi said “the exceptional warmth and candour of the conversation reflected the special nature of the Indo-US ties, as well as the friendship and mutual esteem between both leaders”.
PM Modi too tweeted, “Had a warm and productive conversation with my friend President @realDonaldTrump. We discussed his plans for the US Presidency of G-7, the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other issues. The richness and depth of India-US consultations will remain an important pillar of the post-COVID global architecture.”
This follows a controversy last week when President Trump had claimed that an “unhappy” PM Modi had spoken to him about the same issue but as it turned out, no such conversation had taken place then.
The MEA in its statement on Tuesday evening said that during the conversation, PM Modi also expressed “concern” regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and “conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation”. The US is currently experiencing severe unrest following the death of an African-American man there.
The MEA also said President Trump — while inviting PM Modi for the G-7 Summit — had conveyed his desire to “expand the ambit” of the G-7 grouping beyond the existing membership, “to include other important countries including India”.
New Delhi added, “Prime Minister Modi commended President Trump for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging the fact that such an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world. The Prime Minister said that India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed Summit.”
India is not a member of the G-7 grouping that comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, termed as seven of the "largest" advanced economies in the world. This time, apart from India, President Trump is also reportedly inviting leaders of Russia, South Korea and Australia to participate.
New Delhi also said the two leaders also discussed the Coronavirus pandemic and the “need for reforms in the World Health Organisation (WHO)”, just days after the US President announced termination of American funding to the WHO.
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