FM Sitharaman holds talks with US treasury secy Janet Yellen on bilateral cooperation, G20 priorities

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US treasury secretary Janet Yellen on Friday discussed bilateral cooperation in addressing pressing global economic and financial issues in a meeting on the eve of the G20 Leaders' Summit here.

Sitharaman and Yellen also deliberated on the G20 priorities, the finance ministry said in a post on X .

On Thursday, in a tweet, Yellen had said Russia's war against Ukraine has led to the "needless loss of lives" and stands in direct contradiction to everything that 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.


"As @POTUS (US president) 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. She had also called for prioritising the completion of outstanding restructuring cases in Zambia, Ghana, and Sri Lanka as quickly as possible . Gathering a consensus on debt stress relief to poor and small economies, which are struggling in the aftermath of the pandemic, is among the G20 priorities under India's presidency.

Sitharaman also huddled with Nigerian finance and economy minister Adebayo Olawale Edun and Nigerian minister of budget and national planning Abubakar Atiku Bagudu to discuss issues of mutual interest.