Handshakes trump bilateral meetings in Bali on Day 1

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had two formal meetings with other leaders on the first day of the G20 summit here, but a seemingly chance handshake with Chinese President Xi Jinping appears to have created a bigger buzz.

But then there was also a trilateral handshake that nobody seems to be talking about.

An External Affairs Ministry statement noted two Modi meetings on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit that began in Bali on Tuesday – with US President Joe Biden and host country Indonesia's President Joko Widodo.

But there were several other opportunities for leaders to rub shoulders, even if they did not amount to formal bilateral meetings. The ministry and the Prime Minister's Office posted several photos online of these interactions.

The Group of 20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the USA and the European Union.

''Multilateral summits present wonderful opportunities for leaders to exchange views on diverse issues,'' the PMO tweeted, and the MEA retweeted.

Among others, it posted a picture of Modi with Britain's new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with whom the Prime Minister is ''looking forward to working together in the times to come''.

Another showed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte placing a hand on Modi’s shoulder. The Senegalese President Macky Sall, who is also the African Union head, featured in another.

Indonesian President Widodo, who is the summit host, Modi, who will host next year’s summit, and Joe Biden were placed next to each other at the summit table.

The seating order is usually alphabetic at G20 summits, though not always by the Roman script.

They also posed against the backdrop of the G20 logo. The photo shows a three-way handshake – a move attempted sometimes when leaders summit with one another.

It is an awkward manoeuvre at times. For reference, watch old videos of then US president Barack Obama, Mexico’s Enrique Pena Nieto and Canada’s Justin Trudeau making a cringeworthy moment out of it.

In the Bali photo, Modi is at the centre holding the hands of the American and the Indonesian presidents. The three make it look effortless, even if there is no buzz about it -- unlike the handshake, hours later, between Modi and Xi.

Modi wore the usual kurta and pajama/churidar, paired with a check waistcoat at the summit sessions.

In the evening, for the welcome dinner at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana cultural park, almost all leaders – Modi included - wore Batik shirts and brown trousers.

Black limousines ferried them, one leader at a time, to the venue. They ate as performers put on a show.

And towards the end, there was the Modi-Xi handshake. It came amid the strained India-China relations over the 2020 Galwan Valley clash.

But the two seasoned leaders exhibited no awkwardness, even if the exchange may not indicate a return to normalcy between the two countries.

The handshake happened in a relaxed setting, which included cultural performances and a laser show. The Indonesian president made brief remarks.

''Please enjoy the dishes we have prepared for you. I hope it’s not too spicy for your Excellencies,” he said.