PM Modi holds bilateral meetings with G20 leaders, stresses on jointly combating terrorism

Buenos Aires [Argentina], Dec 1(ANI): While engaging in several bilateral meetings on the sideline of the G20 summit here on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mainly emphasised on jointly combating the menace of terrorism, which is a global phenomenon.
Addressing the media, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Saturday said that in meeting with President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, President of European Council Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Prime Minister asserted on how the countries could jointly cooperate in combating terrorism.
In addition to this, Prime Minister Modi hoped that Indian companies would be given data adequacies status in line with the European Union's data protection regulations which have recently come into force.
During the meeting with President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and President of European Council Donald Tusk, Prime Minister Modi discussed on trade and free trade negotiations. "He assured both the leaders that India was committed to this but that has to have a balanced outcome, important to the requirements of the Indian industries and business," Gokhale said.
The Foreign Secretary further informed that the Prime Minister had a successful meeting with the German Chancellor and Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte. With Merkel, Prime Minister Modi had an extensive discussion on the state of the world at present. "Being two important economies and political entities, both India and Germany must work together to strengthen multilateralism and the role of United Nations. They also focused on strengthening the multilateral processes that allow for global trading and global financial flows," the Foreign Secretary stated.
During his engagement with the Dutch Prime Minister, Prime Minister Modi discussed how both the countries can use technologies for a sustainable handling of water management and climate change. Prime Minister Modi also referred to his dream project of building one hundred waterways in India and the two leaders agreed to stay in touch in this regard. They also discussed some regional and international issues.
Prime Minister Modi also engaged in a warm meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and extended an invitation to him to be the chief guest on India's Republic Day in January 2019. President Ramaphosa, in return, accepted the invitation with pleasure.
"The South African President, in fact, told the Prime Minister that he would like to make solid preparations from the business perspective, cooperation in science and technology and a number of other areas in order to ensure that his bilateral visit to India is fruitful and leads to tangible outcomes," Gokhale further noted.
Prime Minister Modi started his morning by attending a breakfast meeting on invitation by the President of Argentina Mauricio Macri, at his residence. "This is very special gestures that have been made by the Argentinan President for our Prime Minister," Gokhale added in his speech.
Gokhale informed that the two leaders principally focused on agricultural food-processing, agro-technologies, and enhancement in exports. Apart from trade, they even discussed the possibility of Indian companies investing and cooperating in lithium mines in Argentina.
"The Argentine President is keen to make an official visit to India in 2019 and the Indian Prime Minister has, in return, invited him to India next year," Gokhale said. (ANI)