G-20 Summit: Amid unprecedented security, India ready to host the 2-day mega-event
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Forty-one Heads of State/Government and other world leaders will participate in the much-anticipated, 18th Group of 20 (G-20) Summit beginning here on Saturday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said.
Over 50,000 security personnel have been deployed in the highly sensitive part of New Delhi and strict vigil and traffic arrangements will be monitored continuously for the two-day event on Saturday and Sunday by helicopters and drones.
The moment is a long-awaited milestone for India. PM Narendra Modi is selling the world’s most populous nation as an emerging superpower with the clout to navigate geopolitical tensions, economic slowdowns, and rising food and energy prices.
The Summit, the culmination of year-long events, will be marked by a focus on the main theme, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, from which its logo of One Earth, One Family, and One Future, has been derived.
The President of Bharat, Draupadi Murmu, will host a dinner on Saturday for the world leaders, in which 77 Indian musicians will perform with rare instruments showcasing the country’s rich musical heritage. Its venue will be the Bharat Mandapam, in the Pragati Maidan complex.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host 15 bilateral meetings with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British PM Rishi Sunak, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said the event’s leader declaration will be a “voice” of the Global South and developing countries. Around 40 seminars will attract many experts from diverse fields.
The G-20’s Chief Coordinator Harsh Shringla said at the pre-summit media interaction that India hosted at least one meeting in every state and the Union Territory—in all, over 220 meetings in 60 cities across the country– since it assumed the presidency of the group on December 1, 2022. “We had nearly 100,000 visitors from 120 nationalities throughout the year. Around 15 million Indians and others were involved in one way or the other as part of organizing the G-20 Summit.”
G-20 has been taken to the grassroots level and also leveraged to highlight India’s culture and traditions, he said, adding nearly 3,000 domestic and international media representatives are expected to cover the events.
To mark the global event, India has also put together a “Mother of Democracy” exhibition with 26 interactive panels in 16 languages. Besides, to showcase India’s achievements in technology, an exhibition on Aadhar and the United Payments Interface (UPI) and another on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to showcase its progress in digital currency will be there.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said India is seeking to galvanize action on climate change, debt, and digital transformation. “The needs of low-income and vulnerable countries are becoming urgent – and we need to step up to support them.”
In a joint statement with World Bank President Ajay Banga, she said: “The world confronts significant economic challenges, the existential threat of climate change as well as a digital transition, all in the context of more frequent shocks, high debt levels, limited policy space in many countries and rising geopolitical tensions.”
On Friday evening, PM Modi and US President Biden are set to hold crucial bilateral talks to further solidify the India-US comprehensive global and strategic partnership. They are expected to review ongoing bilateral cooperation in areas of clean energy, trade, high technology, and defense, and how the two countries can contribute in dealing with some of the pressing challenges facing the world.
President Biden, whose wife Jill tested COVID-positive in Washington this week, will follow the strict guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during his visit to India for the G-20 Summit, the White House said.
On Friday, world leaders like US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, and Argentine President Alberto Fernández, started arriving with their entourage.
Before leaving for India, President Biden said the G-20 is a premier forum for international economic cooperation. “The US is focused on making progress on Americans’ priorities, delivering for developing nations, and showing our commitment to the G-20 as a forum that can deliver. Every time we engage, we get better.”
Rishi Sunak, 43, said on Friday as the “son-in-law of India” and the first British Prime Minister of Indian heritage, he looked forward to the bilateral talks with PM Modi on the sidelines of the Summit.
While the Indian capital is all decked up for the event, the biggest question looming over the Summit is whether there will be a leaders’ joint declaration in view of the sharp differences between the West and the Russia-China duo on the communique’s text to describe the Ukraine conflict in the key takeaway document.
No consensus has been achieved yet on the contentious issue and top negotiators are still holding hectic parleys to thrash out the differences. The G-20 operates under the principle of consensus and lack of a common view may result in the Summit ending without the declaration.
The silver lining for India’s presidency is likely to be support by almost all G-20 countries to its proposal to include the African Union as a permanent member of the bloc that has emerged as perhaps the most influential multilateral forum after the United Nations.
In the last few years, India has been positioning itself as a leading voice, flagging concerns, challenges, and aspirations of the Global South or the developing nations, especially the African continent.
To welcome the hosts, New Delhi hotels have geared up to receive over 10,000 delegates from 19 member states, invited nations, and other guests. Over 30 carefully selected hotels in Delhi-NCR were identified for the purpose.
Stringent traffic regulations were put in place in the New Delhi District on Friday morning while online delivery services, except for medicines, have been barred in the area where the G-20 Summit venue and hotels for delegates are located.
Stringent security has been put up across the national capital, especially in the New Delhi District, and paramilitary forces and other agencies are maintaining a 24×7 hawk-eye vigil in the city. Markswomen and armed forces have been deployed at strategic locations, and enhanced patrolling and intensive checking in border areas are some of the security measures taken by the Delhi Police, with assistance from over 50,000 security personnel, K-9 dog squads, and mounted police.
As the world’s most powerful leaders descend on New Delhi for the G-20 Summit, India is pulling out all the stops, deploying fighter jets around the capital, painting murals on underpasses, and chasing away packs of monkeys from government buildings.
