G20 Summit LIVE: Friendship Characterised by Warmth, Tweets Modi After Meeting Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

India's tariffs are in line with the World Trade Organization rules, the government sources said, adding that US tariffs on some items were much higher than India's.

Meanwhile, government sources reacted to the United States President Donald Trump's call to withdraw what he said were very high tariffs. India's tariffs are not that high compared to other developing countries, they said,

In response to Abe's wishes, PM Modi said, "Thank you once again for the congratulations, you were the first friend of India who congratulated me, on phone. I also express my gratitude for the warm welcome you and Japan Government have accorded to us."

The Indian and Japanese prime ministers discussed broad range of topics of mutual interest. Modi said that he was looking forward to the visit of Abe to India later this year for the Annual Summit.

Strengthening Ties | The two leaders discussed various aspects of India-Japan relations, which the prime minister said "is characterised by warmth and the promise of a bright future."

A friendship characterised by warmth and the promise of a bright future.

Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @AbeShinzo hold talks in Osaka, the first such meeting between these leaders since the start of Japan’s Reiwa era.

Many aspects of India-Japan relations were discussed. pic.twitter.com/59CiuBHZWA

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 27, 2019

Abe Congratulated Modi for his massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections this year. "Once again would like to offer my hearty congratulations to you for an overwhelming win in elections. Also, next time it is my turn to visit India and I am looking forward to my visit," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the #G20Summit in Osaka, Japan. pic.twitter.com/tG6CxhG3ni

— ANI (@ANI) June 27, 2019

Modi Meets Abe | Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Osaka, where he is scheduled to attend the G20 Summit on June 28.

Greeting each other as best friends do!

Japanese PM @AbeShinzo warmly welcomes PM @narendramodi ahead of their bilateral meeting. #G20OsakaSummit pic.twitter.com/7SwlmxCMUq

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) June 27, 2019

Tighter e-commerce foreign investment rules implemented in India in February have forced Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc to rework their business strategies in the country. Walmart last year invested $16 billion in Indian online retailer Flipkart.

Data Localisation | India outlined a new draft policy for its e-commerce sector this year, focusing on data localisation, improved privacy safeguards and measures to combat the sale of counterfeit products.

India Fears Caps on H-1B Visas | This week, India has been alarmed at the possibility of caps on H-1B work visas that allow thousands of skilled Indians to work in the United States, as retaliation for its data localisation drive. The State Department, though, has said there were no such plans.

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.