PM Modi, Trump discuss G7, India-China border issue, WHO reforms over phone call

Last updated on February 14th, 2023 at 11:01 am

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump on an array of topics. In a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs, the US President spoke about his desire to expand the ambit of G7 group to PM Modi, extending an invitation to India to attend the G7 summit to be held in the USA in September.

Speaking to Donald Trump, PM Modi accepted his invitation to the proposed Summit and commended the US President for his far-sighted approach to keep up with emerging realities of the post-COVID world.
Besides G7, PM Modi also expressed his concerns with US President Trump regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis city.

Furthermore, the two leaders discussed on other topical issues including the Coronavirus pandemic situation in the two countries and reforms in the World Health Organisation. Discussion between the two leaders on reforms in the WHO has come after Trump’s announcement the termination of the US relationship with the UN body over its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The US President has been accusing the WHO of failing to hold Beijing responsible for the global health crisis.

Notably, as per the MEA statement, the Modi and Trump also exchanged views on the situation on the India-China border. However, the statement did not shed light on the details of their conversation regarding the India-China border issue.

“The exceptional warmth and candour of the conversation reflected the special nature of the Indo-US ties, as well as the friendship and mutual esteem between both leaders,” the statement read.

Taking to Twitter after his half-hour-long conversation with Trump, PM Modi wrote, “The richness and depth of India-US consultations will remain an important pillar of the post-COVID global architecture.”

This development has come days after the US President offered to mediate in the border dispute between India and China. However, India had maintained that it is engaged with Beijing to “peacefully resolve” the issue. Moreover, Beijing had also rejected Trump’s mediation offer, asserting that the two neighbours are committed to resolving the issues through dialogue and consultation.

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Earlier, the US President had claimed that he had dialed up the Indian Prime Minister and that Modi had expressed unhappiness about the ongoing situation with the neighbouring country. However, government sources had pointed out that no such interaction had taken place between US President Trump and PM Modi.

Meanwhile, India’s confirmed COVID-19 cases crossed the 2-lakh mark on June 2 out of whom almost one lakh people have recovered from the deadly disease (June 3).