PM Modi attends G20 ‘safely’ because Trump is boycotting it: Congress

The Congress on Friday launched a pointed political salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suggesting that his presence at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg comes “safely and securely” only because US President Donald Trump has chosen to boycott the gathering. With a hint of irony, the party wondered whether the much-publicised “huglomacy” with Modi’s “good friend” would return when the next G20 Summit convenes on American soil.

Prime Minister Modi embarked on his three-day visit to South Africa earlier in the day, where he is set to represent India at the global forum under the banner of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — One Earth, One Family, One Future. Ahead of departure, he described the Johannesburg meeting as a “special summit” on African soil and noted that he would engage with several world leaders while addressing all three sessions of the conclave. He is also scheduled to attend the sixth IBSA Summit during the visit.

But the Congress, through its communication chief Jairam Ramesh, painted a sharply contrasting portrait of the geopolitical moment. In a series of posts on X, Ramesh remarked that with the US absent from the Johannesburg gathering, Modi was spared an uncomfortable encounter — pointing to the prime minister’s recent decision to skip the India-ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, a move the party linked to the prospect of a direct meeting with Trump.

Ramesh also highlighted the upcoming transition of the G20 presidency. After passing from Indonesia to India in 2023 and then to Brazil in 2024, it now rests with South Africa, which will hand it over to the US — a country absent from the summit it is poised to lead.

“With the next G20 scheduled a year from now in the US, and India’s trade or ‘deal’ presumably concluded by then, one wonders how often President Trump — who in the past seven months has claimed 61 times that he halted Operation Sindoor — will repeat that claim in the next twelve,” Ramesh said. “Will huglomacy with ‘my good friend’ revive, will there be mere handshakes, or will Mr. Modi choose not to go at all? Time alone will tell.”

The Congress leader further termed it “extraordinary” that US secretary of state Marco Rubio publicly dismissed South Africa’s G20 themes of solidarity, equality and sustainability as "anti-American" — a stance he described as ironic, given Rubio was the first to announce the abrupt halt to Operation Sindoor on 10 May.

As Modi settles into a summit focused on global cooperation, the political undertones back home remain anything but subdued. Beneath the formal speeches, bilateral meetings and ceremonial photographs, a swirl of diplomatic theatre, shifting alliances and rhetorical sparring continues to script its own narrative on the sidelines of the world stage.

Meanwhile, the G20 — representing 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the world’s population — gathers once more to deliberate on its shared challenges. And in that vast arena, India’s role, its diplomacy and its political crosscurrents remain very much in focus, both at home and abroad.

With PTI inputs