FM holds meeting with US Treasury Secretary, discusses G20 priorities

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday held a bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and discussed G20 priorities.

The bilateral meeting took place a day ahead of the G20 Leadership Summit beginning on Saturday here.

"FM Smt. @nsitharaman and Secretary Ms. @SecYellen discussed key #G20 priorities and bilateral cooperation between the two democracies to address pressing global economic and financial issues," the finance ministry said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Yellen on Thursday had said Russia's war against Ukraine has led to the needless loss of lives and stands in direct contradiction to everything the G20 stands for.

"We will rally our partners to maintain our collective economic support for Ukraine as well as impose severe costs on Russia," she had said in a post on X on Thursday.

"As @POTUS said last year, India is one of America's indispensable partners. This will be my 4th visit to India in 10 months and our ties are stronger than ever. Bilateral trade between our two countries reached an all-time high last year, and we expect it to grow even further," Yellen had said.

Sitharaman also held a meeting with Nigerian Minister of Finance and Economy Adebayo Olawale Edun and Nigerian Minister of Budget and National Planning Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, against the backdrop of the G20 Leaders Summit.

The Ministers discussed issues of mutual interest in several areas.

"FM Smt. @nsitharaman conveyed India's continued support to people of Nigeria in their development trajectory through Indian lines of credit, cooperation between Central Banks, collaboration with NITI Aayog @NITIAayog and exchange on best practices," the finance ministry said in a post on X.

Minister Edun appreciated the rich contribution of Nigerian citizens of Indian origin in the development of the Nigerian economy, it said.