G20 Summit LIVE: PM Modi Arrives in Japan, Meeting With Trump, Xi Jinping on Cards

India has mandated foreign firms to store their payments data locally, hurting companies such as Mastercard and Visa. The United States has been pushing for data flow across borders in several countries, including India. 

Trump, earlier, called India “tariff king”, and pointed to 50% duties on Harley Davidson motorbikes as an example. The Trump administration has also asked India to remove price caps on imported US medical devices, open up its dairy market and cut duties on IT products.

India this month imposed higher tariffs on 28 US products, including almonds, apples and walnuts, following the US withdrawal of certain trade privileges for India. Last year, India had announced tariffs in retaliation to higher US import duties on steel and aluminium.

Trump Says High Tariffs Unacceptable |  Ahead of his meeting with the Prime Minister Modi, Trump addressed the trade tensions between the two nations. He expessed his displeasure at the raise in tariffs on US goods by India, which currently grapples with trade sanctions imposed by the US on Iran and Russia.

I look forward to speaking with Prime Minister Modi about the fact that India, for years having put very high Tariffs against the United States, just recently increased the Tariffs even further. This is unacceptable and the Tariffs must be withdrawn!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019

Guest Nations | In addition, leaders of invited guest countries and representatives of invited guest international organizations participate in the summit along with leaders from the G20 members.

G20 Participant Countries | The participants are leaders from 19 countries and the European Union (EU). The 19 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Republic of South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America.

What is the G20 Summit about? | The G20 Summit, formally known as the “Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy”, aims to dicsuss international financial issues. Initiated after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-1998, it acknowledged that the participation of major emerging market countries is needed on discussions on the international financial system, and G7 finance ministers agreed to establish the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in 1999.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives in Osaka for the G20 Summit scheduled for June 28.. He will hold a series of bilateral talks today.

Prime Minister Abe arrived in Osaka and will soon start a series of bilateral meetings ahead of the G20 Summit. #PMinAction pic.twitter.com/IYiv0pAGgQ

— PM's Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) June 27, 2019

Focus on Promoting Innovation | PM Shinzo Abe's statement ahead of the summit: At the Osaka Summit, Japan is determined to lead global economic growth by promoting free trade and innovation, achieving both economic growth and reduction of disparities, and contributing to the development agenda and other global issues with the SDGs at its core. Through these efforts, Japan seeks to realize and promote a free and open, inclusive and sustainable, "human-centered future society."

The official website of the G20 Summit elaborated on the theme: "Marine plastic litter, which has been attracting global attention in recent years, is an urgent challenge, given that it harms the marine ecosystem and impacts our health. In order to resolve this problem, measures to address this issue need to be taken by all countries, including emerging economies."

Against Marine Plastic Litter | Marine plastic litter is one of the main themes at G20 Osaka Summit. G20 members are discussing how to prevent the discharge of plastic litter into the ocean and to facilitate innovation so as to intensify global efforts.

Themes of G20 Osaka Summit | The themes to be discussed this year at the G20 Summit include sustainable and inclusive growth of the global economy, international trade and investment, innovation, including digitalization, climate change, environment, employment, women empowerment and development.

Global media organisations have started gathering at the International Media Center (IMC) to report the G20 Summit in Osaka.

Many global media organizations are gathering in the #InternationalMediaCenter(IMC) to report the #G20OsakaSummit.#国際メディアセンター（IMC）には、#G20大阪サミット を報道するために世界中から多くの報道機関が集まっています。 pic.twitter.com/E75jM5PVnH

— G20 Japan 🇯🇵 (@g20org) June 27, 2019

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, the organisers of the G20 Summit gave a sneak peak of what's on the menu.

#2DaysToGo until #G20Osaka Summit. How many of these dishes below can you identify? Visit and find out more:https://t.co/PVcPW3qcgN #foodie #StreetFoords pic.twitter.com/mKQIylKUD7

— japan (@japan) June 26, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would join Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump for a tri-lateral meeting at 9.15 am tomorrow.

Modi-Trump Meet Amid Trade Tensions | PM Modi and US President Trump would hold bilateral talks on June 28, in their first meeting after Modi's recent electoral victory. It comes in the immediate aftermath of the India visit of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during which he met PM Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The Trump-Modi meeting assumes significance in the wake of the strain that has popped up in the bilateral relationship on a host of trade and economic issues. 

Trump is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Modi tomorrow. He will also meet his Chinese and Russian counterparts Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

"I'm heading to Japan, Osaka. And we are going to be meeting with (leaders from) a lot of different countries, many of whom have been taking advantage of the United States but not so much anymore, and soon not at all anymore," Trump told reporters in the South lawns of the White House before boarding Marine One which took him to Andrews Joint Air Force Base for Air Force One for travelling to Japan.

Trump Leaves for Japan | US President Donald Trump on Wednesday left the White House to attend the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan over the weekend to hold discussions on a host of bilateral and global issues with leaders of top 20 economies of the world.

The Prime Minister will later today attend a community event at the Hyogo Prefecture Guest House in Kobe, Japan.

Meetings With World Leaders | PM Modi will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today. During the G20 Summit, he will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders during the G20 Summit. 

In his departure statement, PM Modi also expressed his eagerness to host the next Russia, India and China (RIC) Informal Summit on the sidelines. He also said that he looks forward to participate in the next informal meetings of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and JAI (Japan, America and India) leaders.

On the sidelines, PM Modi will engage with leaders of India's major partner countries on important issues of bilateral and global importance.

Platform to Share India's Development | The summit, he said, will also be a platform for sharing India's strong developmental experience of the last five years, which provided the basis for a resounding mandate by the people of India to the government to continue on the path of progress and stability.

"The summit will provide an important opportunity to reiterate and reinforce our strong support to reformed multilateralism, which is crucial for preserving rule-based international order in today's fast-changing world," Modi said.

India to Host G20 Summit in 2022 | Ahead of his visit, PM Modi had said the two-day Osaka summit will also be an important stepping stone for India towards hosting the G20 summit in 2022 "when we usher in a New India in the 75th anniversary year of our Independence".

"PM @narendramodi greeted by excited and proud young members of the Indian community on his arrival at the hotel in Osaka," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accorded warm welcome by members of the Indian community in Japan on Thursday after he arrived here for the G20 Summit.

Reached Osaka to join the #G20 Summit.

Grateful to the dynamic Indian community for the warm welcome! pic.twitter.com/BrPkl9VJqJ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 27, 2019

Efforts to Address Terrorism on Agenda | PM Modi, who reached Osaka early morning today, has said in his departure statement that issues such as women empowerment, artificial intelligence and common efforts to address challenges like terrorism will be high on his agenda.

Early morning arrival in Osaka.

The #G20 Summit, bilateral and multilateral interactions await PM @narendramodi in the coming two days.

He will elaborate on many issues of global importance and present India’s viewpoint. pic.twitter.com/13OStvVjbn

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 26, 2019

PM Modi Arrives in Osaka | Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Osaka, Japan for the G20 Summit, which is being held on June 28. On his sixth G20 Summit, the prime minister is scheduled to attend important plurilateral meetings and meet with many world leaders, including US President Donald Trump.