Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a virtual G20 leaders’ summit on Wednesday evening to deliberate on the implementation of the Delhi Declaration prior to concluding India’s presidency this month, Sherpa Amitabh Kant said on Tuesday.
The virtual meeting is expected to see similar attendance of global leaders as seen in the in person meeting at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 9-10, Kant added.
A virtual summit of the G20 after conclusion of the physical summit was “something very rare” and “rather exceptional” as no other presidency held such a meeting to take forward the guidance provided by the participating leaders into action for a just and equitable world, Kant said at a media briefing.
The meeting aims to provide an impetus to implement the Delhi Declaration unanimously agreed upon by all members at the 18th G20 leaders’ summit held in New Delhi in September. The declaration “demonstrated the commitment of the G20 Leaders to address global challenges in a very ambitious, inclusive, decisive and action-oriented manner,” Kant said.
During the closing session of the New Delhi summit on September 10, Modi had announced India would be hosting a virtual summit. Leaders of the G20 nations, including the chair of the African Union, as well as nine guest countries, and heads of 11 international organisations have been invited to the meeting.
Earlier, speaking on this matter on November 6, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said a momentum must be maintained on the policy guidance of the New Delhi Declaration by engaging with G20 nations.
“On December 1, 2022, when India assumed the mantle of the G20 presidency, Hon’ble Prime Minister wrote, and let me quote his words, ‘Can the G20 go further still? Can we catalyse a fundamental mindset shift, to benefit humanity as a whole?’ Throughout this presidency year, this call from the Prime Minister was the clarion call for India’s G20 presidency,” she said at a seminar.
India holds the G20 Presidency until November 30. The G20 troika during the Brazilian G20 presidency in 2024 will comprise India, Brazil and South Africa.
India assumed the rotating G20 presidency on December 1 last year for a year, and will remain part of the top troika for another. The new troika will be formed when Brazil assumes the presidency next month, with India as the past presidency and South Africa holding the presidency after Brazil.
The G20 is a forum for international economic cooperation. It comprises 19 countries that include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union. The G20 members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
While Spain was invited as a permanent guest at the forum, India included Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates as guest countries during its presidency.
