 "PM Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo")
Come September, as the leaders of the G20 nations reach New Delhi for their annual summit, India will be hosting the largest and most significant international gathering in its history.
The 18th Leaders Summit of the G20 will be held in New Delhi on September 9-10. The first summit in South Asia, it will host the largest delegation of 43 Heads of State and Government as well as the heads of international organisations.
A major milestone for India’s growing economic clout and global footprint, it will also be a key validation of the country’s evolving foreign policy, which has created a new space for India’s rising geopolitical ambitions.
Founded in 1999 in response to several world economic crises, the G20 is the world’s primary venue for international economic and financial cooperation.
Bringing together the 20 most powerful economies in the world, the grouping includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The European Union too is a member.
The grouping represents about 85 per cent of global GDP, over 75 per cent of global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. It may grow to represent a much larger chunk of humanity if India’s proposal to expand membership to the African Union is accepted by all leaders later this year.
Since 2008, the G20 nations have convened at least once a year, bringing together leaders for an annual gathering that has wide geopolitical implications. The annual summits have become the core of global policymaking on pressing financial, strategic, and economic matters over the past decade.
Eyes on India
In its G20 presidency, India is in the process of hosting 230 meetings across 32 different sectors, in more than 60 different cities in India. In the past, G20 meetings have been held in 9-10 cities by a host nation, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
In-person participation during India’s G20 presidency is among the largest ever. Over 12,300 delegates, from over 110 nationalities, attended G20-related meetings till late April, when the 100th G20 meeting in India was held. This included participation from G20 members, nine invitee countries, and 14 international organisations.
Looking beyond the dignitaries, India is also welcoming a much higher number of overall foreign visitors as part of the G20. Earlier this year, the tourism ministry had projected an estimated 150,000 guests will arrive in India in 2023 to participate in events, including those being held by engagement groups outside the government umbrella.
Holding the G20 presidency, India has the prerogative to invite other allied nations to the summit. The Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, and the UAE will be guest nations.
Major outcomes of past G20 summits
1. Washington DC, US (Nov 2008) Led by George W Bush
General agreement on cooperation in key areas to strengthen economic growth, deal with 2008 financial crisis
2. London, UK (April 2009) Led by Gordon Brown
In principle agreement on $1.1 trillion global stimulus package to improve international finance, credit and trade
3. Pittsburgh, US (September 2009) Led by Barack Obama
Boosting influence of major developing nations like India, China and Brazil, G20 became the new permanent council for international economic cooperation replacing the smaller G8
4. Toronto, Canada (June 2010) Led by Stephen Harper
Facing a fragile global recovery, nations agreed to cut budget deficits by half by 2030, and reduce debt-to-GDP ratio in each economy by 2016
5. Seoul, South Korea (Nov 2010) Led by Lee Myung-bak
Agreement on shifting 6% quota and voting rights at the IMF to emerging and developing nations and adjustment of IMF's Executive Board's composition, the Basel III agreement
6. Cannes, France (Nov 2011) Led by Nicolas Sarkozy
Launch of Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and endorsement of Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture
7. Los Cabos, Mexico (June 2012) Led by Felipe Calderón
Establishment of country-specific measures to strengthen demand, growth, confidence and financial stability under Los Cabos Growth and Jobs Action Plan
8. Saint Petersburg, Russia (Sep 2013) Led by Vladimir Putin
Amidst possible US military action against Syria, nations committed to previous pledges including rationalise and phase out inefficient fuel subsidies
9. Brisbane, Australia (Nov 2014) Led by Tony Abbott
Targeted goal of increasing economic growth by an extra 2% through commitments made, increasing infrastructure investment through creation of Global Infrastructure Hub
10. Antalya, Turkey (Nov, 2015) Led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Summit mostly focused on political rather than economic issues due to the terrorist attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed, and a declaration on fighting terrorism was adopted
11. Hangzhou, China (Sep 2016) Led by Xi Jinping
Hangzhou Consensus called on G20 to deliver more inclusive economic growth
12. Hamburg, Germany (July 2017) Led by Angela Merkel
A new emphasis on the need for trade deals to be reciprocal and non-discriminatory towards developing countries, reduced the previous emphasis on the primacy of liberalisation and the promotion of free market economics across the board
13. Buenos Aires, Argentina (Nov, 2018) Led by Mauricio Macri
A gender mainstreaming strategy across the G20 agenda put gender equality at the centre of its governance, new resources for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) authorised
14. Osaka, Japan (June, 2019) Led by Shinzo Abe
The new ‘Osaka Track’ committed to promote efforts on international rule-making on digital economy, especially on data flow and electronic commerce, 'Osaka Blue Ocean Vision' aimed to reduce additional pollution by marine plastic litter to zero by 2050
15. Virtual (Nov 2020) Led by King Salman
Nations promised to collaborate on research and technology to battle the pandemic, and extend support to developing and under developing countries
16. Rome, Italy (Oct 2021) Led by Mario Draghi
Agreement announced on global taxation regime for multinationals with a 15% minimum corporate tax, a new target of channeling $100 billion of IMF funds towards poorest nations was set
17. Bali, Indonesia (Nov 2022) Led by Joko Widodo
Russia and China jointly agreed Russia should not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine while most nations condemned Moscows actions in Ukraine
18. New Delhi, India (Sep 2023) Led by Narendra Modi
