A showdown between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin isn’t happening, but the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing tensions between China and the West will be at the fore when leaders of the world’s biggest economies gather in tropical Bali this week.
The Group of 20 members begin talks on the Indonesian resort island Tuesday under the hopeful theme of “recover together, recover stronger.” While Putin is staying away, Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and get to know new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he will hold extensive discussions with G20 leaders in Bali on key challenges such as reviving global growth, ensuring food and energy security and addressing issues relating to health and digital transformation. A day before PM Modi left for the summit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra underlined Sunday the key challenges that will discussed by world leaders at the summit, including the “ongoing conflict” in Ukraine and “its knock-on effect, such as food security challenges, energy crisis and inflation”. Indonesia is the current chair of the G-20, and India will formally assume the role from December 1 this year. Indonesia President Joko Widodo will hand over G20 Presidency to India at the closing ceremony of the Bali summit.