UAE President Sheikh Mohamed has arrived in the Indian capital of New Delhi for the G20 summit, which begins on Saturday.
US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister Asaad bin Tariq and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres were among the world leaders to arrive at Palam airbase on Friday afternoon.
Mr Biden was scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shortly after arriving and would speak with other leaders on the “margins” of the event, the White House said.
Sheikh Mohamed was accompanied by a delegation of senior Emirati officials including Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad, adviser for Special Affairs at the Ministry of Presidential Court; Ali Al Shamsi, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for National Security; Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation; and Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.
China is to be represented by Premier Li Qiang in the absence of President Xi Jinping, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will represent his country in place of President Vladimir Putin.
A troupe of dancers welcomed Mr Sunak as he walked down the red carpet at the airport in New Delhi.
Mr Modi welcomed the dignitaries and said he was looking forward to “productive discussions” with the leaders.
“This is the first ever G20 summit being hosted by India. I look forward to productive discussions with world leaders over the next two days,” Mr Modi said on X, formerly Twitter.
