G20 leaders to gather next week in Varanasi, not Delhi

Since Modi's victory in 2014, Varanasi has seen renewed focus from the Centre

India will host the third meeting of the G20 Framework Working Group (FWG) from March 28 to discuss challenges before the global economy and their possible solutions at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Varanasi.

The temple-city will be host to more than 100 high-level officials from G20 member and invitee countries, as well as international organisations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Labour Organization (ILO) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Here are some highlights:

• This is the first time such a meeting is taking place outside the national capital. Varanasi will also get its place on the international diplomacy map

• According to The Economics Times, the meeting is scheduled for March 28-29

• Union secretary of economic affairs Shaktikanta Das will inaugurate the meeting as the chief guest.

• The delegates will also watch the Ganga aarti and take a tour of the holy city

• Varanasi's ghats have undergone a swift transformation over the past two and half years, with Modi taking a personal interest in the on-the-ground implementation of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the city.

• India had earlier hosted such a meeting of officials in Goa, which is one of the country's top tourist destinations

• It will also be an occasion to show the success of the Swachh Bharat mission in a city that was once considered among the 10 dirtiest in the country

'Kashi to Kyoto' journey

During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign, Modi had said, quoting Mark Twain, "Our Benaras is older than history, older than tradition". He promised to transform the city and make it comparable to the Japanese city of Kyoto. 

The prime minister had also said that "all roads lead to the temple-city". Ever since then, the constituency has succeeded in wooing central ministry projects of varied size and scale — from the Union Ministry of Agriculture's cow conservation initiative to the building of a multi-modal terminal for cargo ships under the Ministry of Shipping. Further, the city has seen the laying of underground cabling in the temple and ghat areas under the Union Ministry of Power's Integrated Power Development Scheme. The National Highways Authority of India has also picked up a 2003 state government road project for the four-laning of the Sultanpur-Varanasi section of NH-56, with a fresh deadline of May 2017. 

G20 Framework Working Group (FWG)

G20 Leaders at the Pittsburgh Summit held in September 2009 had committed to work together to ensure that global growth is strong, sustainable and balanced. To that end, the Framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth was launched. In the framework, the G20 members agree on shared policy objectives, assess the implications of national policy frameworks for global growth and agree on policy actions to meet the common objectives.

The G20 FWG is co-chaired by Canada and India. 

What is G20

The G20 is an informal grouping of key countries founded in 1999 that represents 90 per cent of the world's gross domestic product. In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, it emerged as the key international forum for coordinating a global response after US President George W Bush invited its leaders to Washington DC in November 2008 for the grouping's first summit. Currently, the G20 presidency is with Germany.

The G20 members include India, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and the European Union (EU).