French Prez Macron to visit Delhi for G20 on Sept 9-10

The G20 Summit in India will be an opportunity to make progress in implementing joint responses to major global challenges, France said on Tuesday, announcing its President Emmanuel Macron's participation in the conclave.

Macron's office said the President will travel to Delhi to participate in the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10 following which he will leave for Bangladesh for a bilateral visit.

In a statement, it said the summit will enable Macron to continue his ongoing dialogue with his counterparts from every continent to combat the 'risks of fragmentation' of the world.

'The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, will travel to Delhi to participate in the G20 summit under India's Presidency on September 9 and 10, and will then travel to Bangladesh on September 10 for a bilateral visit,' it said.

'The G20 summit will enable France's Head of State to continue his ongoing dialogue with his counterparts from every continent, so as to combat the risks of fragmentation of the world,' it said.

'It will also be an opportunity to make progress in implementing joint responses to the major global challenges that can only be tackled effectively through multilateral action: peace and stability, poverty alleviation, protection of climate and our planet, food security, and digital regulation,' it added.

Macron's office said the summit will also provide an opportunity to follow up on the summit for a New Global Financial Pact held in Paris last June.

'This had led to the establishment of the Paris agenda for people and the planet, providing a framework for collective action to ensure that no country has to choose between fighting poverty and protecting the planet,' it said.

The G20 member countries represent around 85 percent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

The grouping comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU).

On Macron's Bangladesh trip, the French statement said he will 'continue to implement France's strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, after having welcomed Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi in Paris this summer, and visited Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Sri Lanka'.

'It will also be an opportunity to deepen our bilateral relationship with a country that is undergoing rapid economic development, with France's support, and is seeking to diversify its partnerships,' it said.

'Bangladesh and France also have a great commonality of views when it comes to global challenges, particularly with regard to the Paris Agenda for People and the Planet, which Bangladesh actively supports,' it said.

The readout said as Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate disruption, President Macron will reiterate France's determination to stand by its side on the humanitarian front, particularly given the regular flooding the country faces.

'Bangladesh is also a major contributor to international solidarity efforts, be they through its contingents in peacekeeping operations or in hosting Rohingya refugees,' it said.