PM Narendra Modi to host virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit tomorrow

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a virtual Leaders’ Summit on Wednesday evening to deliberate implementation of the Delhi Declaration prior to cG20oncluding India’s Presidency this month, Sherpa Amitabh Kant said adding that the virtual meeting is expecting similar attendance of global leaders as was seen in the physical meeting at Bharat Mandapam on September 9-10.

Addressing a pre-summit press conference, Kant said, a virtual summit of G20 after conclusion of the physical summit is “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.

The meeting aims to give an impetus to implementing the Delhi Declaration that was unanimously agreed by all members at the 18th G20 Leaders’ Summit held in New Delhi on September 9-10, 2023, he said. The New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration “demonstrated the commitment of the G20 Leaders to address global challenges in a very ambitious, inclusive, decisive and action-oriented manner,” he added.

“We had 83 paras in our declaration. There were 87 outcomes. And there were 118 documents attached to it. That means there were almost (with outcomes and documents) we had 205 actions on which we had to pursue action,” he said.

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During the closing session of the New Delhi G20 Summit on 10 September 2023, Modi had announced that India would be hosting a virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit prior to the conclusion of India’s G20 Presidency. Leaders of the G20 members including the Chair of the African Union, as well as nine Guest countries, and heads of 11 International Organisations are invited in the meeting.

Earlier, speaking on this matter on November 6, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a momentum must be maintained on the policy guidance of the New Delhi Leaders’ 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 on ‘Strong, Sustainable, Balanced and Inclusive Growth’ in New Delhi.

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, 2022, for one year, and will remain part of the top troika for another year. 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 the premier forum for international economic cooperation. It comprises 19 countries -- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, and the US -- and the European Union (EU). 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 is invited as a permanent guest at the forum, India included Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore and the UAE as guest countries during its presidency.