Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the three-day Group of 20 (G-20) Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, from Friday but US President Donald Trump will not.
The White House, according to media reports on Thursday, said Trump will boycott the first-ever G-20 Summit on African soil because South Africa “mistreats” its White minority, and even claimed the genocide of White Afrikaners.
When South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met him in the White House in May 2025, the US President complained to him about this, and even produced “evidence” in the form of newspaper reports. South Africa denied these claims.
The G-20 Summit in 2026 is scheduled to be held in the USA.
So, the event this year may look awkward because President Ramaphosa will likely hand over the next year’s G-20 presidency to an empty chair in the absence of President Trump or his delegation. There will be no one to receive it.
The United States has never skipped a G-20 summit, typically represented by the President or at least a high-level official. This time, however, there will be no one representing the US.
South Africa, though, is not rattled. Ramaphosa responded with remarkable calm: “My experience in politics is that boycotts never really work—they have a very contradictory effect. With the United States not attending, one must never think that we are not ready to go ahead with it. The G-20 will go on. All other heads of states will be here, and, in the end, we will take fundamental decisions. Their absence is their loss.”
India and South Africa have worked closely through this G-20 cycle, sharing concerns about debt relief, climate finance, and the need to amplify the voices of emerging economies in global forums. The cooperation has been smooth, consistent, and productive, something South Africa is publicly acknowledging, experts said.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei will also skip the event. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be absent due to the ICC arrest warrant against him on the Ukraine issue. Chinese President Xi Jinping is sending his Prime Minister.
In 2023. India didn’t just host a successful summit in a tense geopolitical climate, it pushed through the historic inclusion of the 55-nation African Union as a permanent G-20 member, a single move that gave an entire continent a stronger, permanent voice in global decision-making. It became the benchmark for responsible leadership in the G-20.
The G-20 group of countries accounts for about 85 percent of global GDP, nearly 75 percent of world trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Johannesburg, South Africa, from November 21 to 23 to attend the 20th G-20 Leaders’ Summit. Announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs said this will be the fourth consecutive G-20 Summit to be held in the Global South.
PM Modi is expected to address all the three sessions of the Summit, it said.
On the sidelines of the Summit, the PM is expected to hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg, and participate in the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Leaders’ Meeting, being hosted by South Africa.