Will Modi meet Trump at World Economic Forum in Davos?

According to reports, Donald Trump will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos later this month, opening up a distinct possibility of a meeting with Narendra Modi.

Washington, Jan 10: Whenever they have met, the world observed with bated breath.

As world leaders, economists and business honchos are all set to meet at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland beginning from January 23, a buzz is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump are likely to meet or walk into each other at the four-day gala event.

According to reports, the US President will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos later this month, opening up a distinct possibility of a meeting with PM Modi.

This would be for the first time in 18 years that a US president would be attending an annual gathering of global economic leaders.

"The President welcomes opportunities to advance his America First agenda with world leaders," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily news conference.

She said Trump looks forward to promoting his policies to strengthen "American businesses, American industries, and American workers".

Details of the President's trip to Davos, including bilateral meetings, are being worked out, Sanders said.

"We're finalising the details on exactly when the President will be there. We don't have any commitments beyond this year at this point," she said, adding that the White House is looking forward to being part of the process.

"The President's message is very much the same here as it will be there; just the same as it was here, as it was when he made many stops in Asia. This is very much an America First agenda," Sanders said.

She said Trump is "still 100 per cent focused and committed to promoting policies that strength American businesses and the American workers."

"That's going to be the same whether he's in the US or any other place," Sanders said.
Several senior members of the Cabinet and administration will be part of this event, she said.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2018 will take place later this month in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, under the theme, Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.

Modi will travel to Switzerland on January 22 on a two- day visit during which he will deliver the keynote address at the plenary session of the WEF.

This would be the first time since 1997 that an Indian PM will attend the Davos summit.

The annual meeting will be attended by 350 governmental leaders (among them over 60 heads of state or government), the chairs and chief executive officers of the world's most important companies and over 1,000 leaders from civil society, academia and the media.

Although, no official statement has been issued regarding the Modi-Trump meeting, looking at the bonhomie the two top leaders shared during their previous meetings, we can definitely expect a few friendly handshakes, hugs and peals of laughter as they meet and greet each other in Davos.

OneIndia News