'India's G20 summit will show world's major economies can work together even in challenging times'

WASHINGTON: The United States hoped that the G20 Summit, under India's presidency, would show the world’s major economies can work together even in challenging times, a White House official said on Tuesday.

National Security Advisor of the US, Jake Sullivan in a briefing said, "As the President heads to the G20, he is committed to working with emerging market partners to deliver big things together. That’s what we believe the world will see in New Delhi this weekend."

"The United States’ commitment to the G20 hasn’t wavered, and we hope this G20 Summit will show that the world’s major economies can work together even in challenging times," he added.

Talking about the G20 Summit, which is scheduled to take place on September 9 and 10, Sullivan said that As US President Joe Biden is heading to New Delhi, the focus is going to be on delivering for developing countries; making progress on key priorities for the American people, from climate to technology; and US will show its commitment to the G20 as a forum that can actually deliver.

"And thanks to the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and India’s presidency, we hope we’ll be able to do all of those things," he added. Sullivan added that the US was looking forward to welcoming the African Union (AU) as the newest permanent member of the bloc, an indication that the proposal to add AU is likely to get through.

"We’re also looking forward to warmly welcoming the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 — the newest permanent member. We believe that the African Union’s voice will make the G20 stronger," the White House official said. He also talked about what the US is bringing to the table for this week's summit.

"Here at home, President Biden has worked to rebuild the American economy, as you’ve all heard him say, from the bottom up and the middle out by making smart investments in the industries of the future while tackling climate change and empowering workers. And we believe that those investments are paying off. We think countries around the world, too, can benefit from a similar type of approach and that we can help them as well by mobilizing investment to support them in tackling the challenges that they face," Sullin said.

"And that’s one of our main focuses heading into the G20: delivering on an agenda of fundamentally reshaping and scaling up the multilateral development banks, especially the World Bank and the IMF," the NSA added.

In his opening remarks at the briefing, Sullivan said that the US was deeply committed to the G20 as a forum to deliver meaningful outcomes at a time of historic international economic shocks. At the briefing, Sullivan also confirmed that Biden will visit India for the G20 summit.

"On Thursday, the President will travel to New Delhi for the G20 Summit in India. On Friday Biden will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Saturday, Biden will participate in the official sessions of the G20 Summit, 2023," Sullivan said.