What exactly Donald Trump told PM Modi at G20 Summit?

In world of power diplomacy, where most of the interactions happen behind closed doors, body language of world leaders in front of media is known to give hints to what is exactly going on between two nations. This was the case when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump met during the just concluded G20 Summit held at Japan’s Osaka city. From fist-bumps, smiles, hearty laughs and not-to-miss bear hugs, many saw PM Modi playing hardball amid trade tensions with the US. The 20-second clip showing the two leaders briefly exchanging greetings during the summit soon went viral. While there were some insanely funny versions of what exactly happened between the two leaders, new The Indian Express report has now revealed the details of the ‘productive conversation’.

Trump reportedly told PM Modi that, “You can call me directly if you have any issues.” It is fairly well-known in the world of international affairs that Trump has shared his private phone number with leaders such as Justin Trudeau, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron. The report also said that despite the little tense tweet, Trump’s meeting with PM Modi was very cordial.

After the trilateral talks with Japan and India, Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump also shared a video where she spoke about the productive discussion. "...A subsequent productive conversation, a one-on-one meeting between the President and Prime Minister Modi (was held) where the same issues were covered, of course 5G, as well as trade relationship between the United States and India, a critical trading partner, a critical security partner and a critical ally. So it was a productive discussion, everything from Iran to national security was covered by the President and the US delegation with their Indian counterparts," Ivanka Trump said in the video statement tweeted out by the White House.

At the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put forward a five-point approach to address common challenges facing the world, including protectionism, unilateralism at global financial organisations like the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and terrorism.