G20 Summit: Driver in Joe Biden's Convoy Detained at Delhi's Taj Hotel Over 'Security Concerns' | Details

A driver in US President Joe Biden’s convoy was reportedly detained in New Delhi on Saturday for “negligent driving”. Reports stated that he was later freed after questioning.

A report in India Today quoted sources as saying that the incident happened after one of the cars from the American President’s convoy entered the Taj Hotel, where the President of the UAE, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was staying, as the G20 Summit is underway.

The driver was reportedly not aware of the protocol. During questioning, he said that he was supposed to arrive at the ITC Maurya, where Biden was staying, at 9.30 am.

The driver, however, arrived at the Taj as he had to drop a businessman, whom he had picked up from the Lodhi Estate area, at the Taj, the India Today report stated, adding that the security officers at the spot had flashed a message as the car bore several stickers.

Biden Leaves for Vietnam

Joe Biden left for Vietnam after he and several other G20 leaders paid homage at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial Rajghat in New Delhi on Sunday morning.

On his first visit to India as the US President, Biden arrived in the national capital on Friday to attend the two-day G20 summit and held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the same day.

In their over 50-minute talks, Modi and Biden vowed to “deepen and diversify” the bilateral major defence partnership while welcoming forward movement in India’s procurement of 31 drones and joint development of jet engines. Biden also participated in key sessions of the G20 Summit on Saturday.

The US President flew to a Vietnam that’s looking to dramatically ramp up trade with the United States — a sign of how competition with China is reshaping relationships across Asia.

The president has made it a point of pride that Vietnam is elevating the United States to the status of being a comprehensive strategic partner. Other countries that Vietnam has extended this designation to include China and Russia.

With China’s own economic slowdown and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s consolidation of political power, Biden sees an opportunity to bring more nations — including Vietnam and Cambodia — into America’s orbit.

(With inputs from PTI & Reuters)