APEC Summit 2023 Invited India, Despite Not Being A Member

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit is a big meeting where countries around the Pacific Ocean talk about trade and economic issues. This year, it’s happening in San Francisco, USA, from November 11 to November 17. 

Key leaders from many countries like the USA, China, Japan, Canada, and Indonesia are attending. This is the first time since 2011 when the US is hosting world leaders in the APEC Summit 2023.

Notably, India is not a member of APEC, but India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, is also invited to the APEC Summit.

This APEC Summit is a big event where countries are trying to work together on important issues like trade, economy, and now, the fight against dangerous issues.

A very important part of this summit is the meeting between US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping. They haven’t met face-to-face in a year, so this is a big deal. 

One of the main topics they’ll discuss is fentanyl, a very strong drug that’s causing a lot of problems in the USA. It’s stronger than heroin and is mixed with other drugs, leading to many deaths in the USA. The US government thinks that China can help stop this drug from coming into the US.

The US put some limits on China’s Institute of Forensic Science in 2020 because of issues related to the treatment of Uyghurs and other groups in China. 

This institute is part of China’s Ministry of Public Security. Now, the US is thinking about lifting these limits to get China’s help with the fentanyl problem.

APEC has been around since 1989 and has always focused on making trade easier and helping economies grow. This group has helped a lot in boosting trade and economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. 

India showed interest in joining APEC back in 1991 and has been trying to become a member, but APEC hasn’t added any new members for a long time. However despite this APEC has invited India respectfully.

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The meeting between Biden and Xi is important this year for both US-China relations. Although it might not immediately fix all the problems between the US and China, it shows that both countries are ready to talk and work on big issues. 

Biden also wants to talk about the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a new group that started after the US left another big trade group. 

The IPEF includes many APEC members and aims to strengthen economic ties in the region, similar to what APEC does. India is also an important part of this new IPEF group.