Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: India would host over 200 G-20 meetings during its yearlong presidency of the influential group, which will culminate with an annual summit on September 9 and 10 next year.
New Delhi will assume the Presidency of the G-20 for a year from Indonesia from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023. India is convening the G-20 Leaders’ Summit for the first time in the country next year.
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will hold a G-20 meeting next year, for which its administration has constituted a five-member committee for coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The G-20 comprises the European Union and 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, and the US.
Pakistan, a non-member, has been trying to dissuade China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and others from participating, claiming the J&K is a disputed territory.
But India is going ahead.
“Under its Presidency, India is expected to host over 200 G-20 meetings across the country, beginning December 2022. The G-20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10, 2023 in New Delhi,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.
The G-20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.
Collectively, the G-20 accounts for 85 percent of the global GDP, 75 percent of international trade, and two-thirds of the world population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation.
India is currently part of the G-20 Troika (current, previous, and incoming G-20 Presidencies) comprising Indonesia, Italy, and India.
During India’s Presidency, India, Indonesia, and Brazil would form the troika.
This would be the first time when the troika would comprise three developing countries and emerging economies, providing them a greater voice, the MEA said.
Apart from the members, the G-20 Presidency also invites some guest countries and international organizations to its meetings and summit.
Besides regular international organizations like the UN, IMF, World Bank, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization, and International Labour Organization, among others, India will invite Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, and the UAE as guest countries, the MEA said.
The ISA (International Solar Alliance), CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure), and ADB (Asian Development Bank) would also be invited as guests. “Whilst our G-20 priorities are being firmed up, ongoing conversations, inter alia, revolve around inclusive, fair, and sustainable growth; LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment); women’s empowerment; digital public infrastructure and tech-enabled development in areas ranging from health and agriculture,” the MEA said.
The other key areas are education, commerce, skill mapping, culture and tourism, climate financing, circular economy, global food security, energy security, green hydrogen, disaster risk reduction and resilience, developmental cooperation, the fight against economic crime, and multilateral reforms.