New Delhi: Amid the Israel-Hamas war, a virtual summit of the member countries of the G20 group is going to be organized once again. However, Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the meeting. Prime Minister Li Qiang will attend the meeting in his place. In this summit, talks are also possible on Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Canadian PM Justice Trudeau will also participate in this event to be held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, this time too Chinese President Xi Jinping has distanced himself from this summit. At the same time, US President Joe Biden will not be able to attend due to attending another program.
It is noteworthy that the G-20 summit was organized in New Delhi on 9-10 September, in which all the heads of state of the group participated. But, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin could not come to India. He had sent his representatives to attend the summit. During this period, a proposal was made to organize a virtual summit during the New Delhi Manifesto.
The world’s largest economies and the African Union will come together at the G20 virtual summit convened by India on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the G20 for the first time in nearly two years. The US President will be represented by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The impact of the Russia–Ukraine war and the Israel–Hamas conflict will also be discussed. India’s Sherpa Amitabh Kant said, since our successful hosting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the world has witnessed many events and many new challenges have emerged, which will focus on the issue of development. It would not be appropriate to pre-determine the issues to be discussed by the leaders, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, as Indian officials listed progress made on a number of issues since the summit in September. Amitabh Kant said, Prime Minister Modi will once again host the G20 leaders within two months. This summit is very special and important. No other President has held a physical and then a virtual meeting of all the leaders. Apart from all this, the PM has hosted two sessions of Voice of Global South. India has organized four such meetings in a year with more than 150 global leaders, which clearly demonstrates the convening power and leadership of the Prime Minister at the global level.
Earlier in September, India had achieved consensus on the manifesto of the G20 summit amid the Russia-Ukraine war. It was an issue that threatened to create a standoff between developed and emerging economies. India is now working on the implementation of the issues agreed upon by the leaders at the summit. The G20 virtual summit will build on the key outcomes and action points decided at the summit chaired by India in September, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi said in a statement. Emphasis is also expected to be laid on effective implementation of various decisions taken two months ago.
India has invited the leaders of all G20 members, including the Chairman of the African Union, as well as heads of 9 guest countries and 11 international organizations to participate in the virtual summit. India holds the presidency of the G20 till November 30, 2023. Now Brazil will be the next president of G20.
It is noteworthy that G20 member countries represent 85 percent of the global GDP. 75 percent of global trade takes place between these countries. Two-thirds of the world’s total population lives in these countries. This includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, US and the European Union (EU).
