India will assume presidency of the G20, or Group of Twenty, from December and host the summit of leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies in New Delhi during September 9-10 next year, the government said on Tuesday. The country will hold the presidency from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023.
India will take over the presidency from Indonesia, which is set to host this year’s G20 leaders’ summit in November. There is a tradition of the G20 presidency inviting guest countries and international organisations to its meetings and summit.
In addition to regular international organisations such as the United Nations (UN), World Bank, International Monetary Fund(IMF), World Health Organisation (WHO), World Trade Organisation (WTO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) and chairs of regional organisations such as Asean, India will invite Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the United Arab Emirates as guest countries for the G20 summit during its presidency, the external affairs ministry (MEA) said in a statement.
India will also invite the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, and Asian Development Bank as guest international organisations, it said.
While India’s G20 priorities are being firmed up, ongoing conversations revolve around inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth, LiFE, or Lifestyle for Environment, women’s empowerment, digital public infrastructure, and tech-enabled development in areas such as health, agriculture, education and tourism, climate financing, global food security, energy security, fight against economic crimes, and multilateral reforms, the statement said.
Under its G20 presidency, India is expected to host more than 200 preparatory and other meetings across the country, beginning in December this year. India will take over after twice swapping the presidency of the G20 – first with Italy in 2021 and then with Indonesia in 2022.
The G20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies. It comprises 19 countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US – and the European Union (EU).
Spain is a permanent guest.
Collectively, G20 accounts for 85% of the global GDP, 75% of international trade and two-thirds of the world population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation.
