United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the next G7 summit in his country. In a telephonic conversation, the two leaders discussed several issues, including escalating border tensions between New Delhi and Beijing, and the swelling protests in the United States after the death of a black man in police custody.
“President Trump...conveyed his desire to expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India,” the government said in a statement. “Prime Minister Modi expressed concern regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation.”
The statement added that the two exchanged views on other topics such as the coronavirus pandemic, the situation at the India-China border, and the need for reforms in the World Health Organization. However, the Centre did not specify the details related to the discussion on the India-China border tensions.
Tensions at the border between the two nations have heightened over the last month. Chinese troops have clashed with the Indian Army at several points along the Line of Actual Control. India and China do not share a defined and demarcated border. Instead, there is the Line of Actual Control, which stretches thousands of kilometres from Ladakh all the way to Arunachal Pradesh. Modi reportedly met the three service chiefs, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat to discuss the border standoff on May 27.
China, the country where the coronavirus pandemic originated, is also facing international scrutiny over the escalating health crisis, especially from the United States.
Meanwhile, the White House is bristling with tension, as demonstrations spread against the brutal death of George Floyd in police custody. Floyd, an unarmed black man, was choked to death as a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while arresting him for allegedly using a counterfeit note. The officer was later arrested upon public outrage and charged with murder in the third degree. Protestors are demanding that the three other officers, along with the one who killed Floyd, who were involved in the arrest be detained too. All four were sacked from the Minneapolis police after the killing.
On Monday, hundreds of demonstrators had gathered outside the gates of the White House, shouting curses at Trump and in some cases throwing bricks and bottles. The situation escalated on Tuesday after tear gas was fired at a group of protestors, following which Trump made his way across the street to a church where he held aloft a Bible for photos to be taken with some of his senior staffers.
On February 24, Trump made his first official visit to India, addressing a rally of more than one lakh people in Modi’s home state of Gujarat. The event was titled ‘Namaste Trump’, and the two leaders also participated in a road show in Ahmedabad, which thousands of people attended.
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