India will assume the presidency of the G20 for a year from December 1 this year to November 30, 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) formally announced on Tuesday.
The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 next year in New Delhi which will be attended by the Presidents of the US, Russia, France, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and China.
Under its Presidency, India is expected to host over 200 G20 meetings across the country, beginning December 2022. Like Indonesia which is the current G20 chair, it will have to play a delicate balancing act if the Russia-Ukraine war persists till then.
Indonesia’s previous mega G20 event – the Foreign Ministers’ conclave – ended in a disarray after G-7 Ministers refused a joint photo-op with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. It ended with no joint statement.
The MEA said India’s G20 priorities are in the process of being firmed up. But ongoing conversations revolve around a large number of themes. These include equitable and sustainable growth, women’s empowerment, digital public infrastructure and tech-enabled development.
India is currently part of the G20 Troika (current, previous and incoming G20 Presidencies) comprising Indonesia, Italy and India. During our Presidency, India, Indonesia and Brazil would form the troika. This would be the first time when the troika would consist of three developing countries and emerging economies, providing them a greater voice.
The G20 comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, US) and the European Union.
India to invite nine countries as Special Guests for Sept 9-10 G20 summit – Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the UAE as guest countries.
