The press interaction on the Air Force One with the NSAUS Mr Jake Sullivan underscored the concerns of the US media regarding the Delhi chapter of G20 Convention.
The questions related to India focused on three questions:
1) Whether the POTUS will uphold ‘US values’ and hold Mr. Modi accountable for restrictions on freedom of expression, of restrictions on press and on religious freedom.
2) On the expected economic pacts between US and India.
3) On why the bilateral meeting between POTUS and Mr. Modi, will not permit the presence of US press; in a flagrant departure from the practice of transparency followed by POTUS.
It will be disconcerting for the event managers of BJP that the US media was more interested on China, especially;
1) The possible fallout of the absence of Chinese premier on the joint communique of the Delhi G20 convention.
2) The implications of the severing of communication between Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi since the G20 conference in Indonesia.
3) The 5G-6G rivalry between US and China.
With the possibility of a joint communique seeming increasingly remote due to the hardening of positions over Ukraine between the US and EU on the one hand and Russia and China on the other, the attempt to use the G20 to project Mr Modi as a significant International leader may have to be watered down.
- Kumar Sanjay Singh is Associate Professor of Swami Shraddhanand College, Delhi University.
Full Transcript of press interaction on the Air Force One with the NSAUS Mr Jake Sullivan may be read here.