Japan urges support for free, fair trade at G20 summit

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday told the G20 leaders that the global economy is facing downside risks.

"I want the G20 to share a determination to realize growth by employing all policy tools," Abe said in his opening address to the summit in the port city of Osaka.

He also urged the global leaders to deliver a "strong message" to support free, fair and indiscriminate trade, according to Kyodo news.

"We [G20] should send out a strong message," the state-run news agency quoted him as saying.

Abe, who is also the head of the G20 summit, stated that Tokyo would promote improvement in the multilateral trade system and consensus on global economic cooperation.

Leaders of 20 major economies -- including Turkey, the U.S., China, Russia, the U.K., France, Germany and India -- are meeting in Japan's port city Osaka for two days marking the 14th summit G20.

The summit is being held under the shadow of several disputed issues including the trade war between the U.S. and China, climate change, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Hong Kong protests and tensions in the South China Sea.

“Restrictive measures will not benefit any country,” Abe said without referring to tit-for-tat traffic hikes between Beijing and Washington as he expressed "deep concern" about the current landscape of global trade.

The Japanese leader also stressed on the reform in the World Trade Organization.

- Leaders meet on sidelines of G20

Meanwhile, G20 leaders held bilateral and multilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

U.S. President Donald Trump met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin while Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe held another bilateral meeting in Osaka.

Soon after his meeting with Putin, Trump told the media: "It's a great honor to be with President Putin."

In their meeting, Abe and Trump agreed to bolster the "unwavering" bilateral alliance after Trump earlier revived his criticism of what he sees as a one-sided security treaty.

- S-400 skipped at Trump-Modi meeting

Trump also held another bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the duo held a trilateral meeting with the host country leader.

During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations as well as regional and global issues.

"The talks with @POTUS [U.S. President] were wide ranging. We discussed ways to leverage the power of technology, improve defense and security ties as well as issues relating to trade,” Indian Premier Narendra Modi tweeted. "India stands committed to further deepen economic and cultural relations with USA.”

The meeting between two leaders came after Trump slammed India's high import tariff on the iconic Harley Davidson motorcycles.

However, New Delhi's acquisition of S-400 missile systems from Russia, which has faced strong opposition from Washington, was not discussed in the Trump-Modi meeting.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told reporters in Osaka: "Four Issues were taken up during the bilateral meeting. They were related to Iran, 5G, trade and defense relations. As far as Iran was concerned, the Prime Minister outlined our energy concerns as well as concerns regarding peace and stability in the region.”

“India purchasing S-400 missile defense system from Russia did not come up during the talks between the two leaders,” the Indian top diplomat added.