What is G20?

Nazeer Waris

Bengaluru: Group of Twenty (G20) had its annual conference in Delhi on September 8 and 9. This time it was hosted by India and presided by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Several heads of state participated in the twoday meet which was held at the new convention centre 'Bharath Mandapam' in the Pragati Maidan. G20 is a forum of 20 countries to promote international economic cooperation.

It was set up in 1999. India currently holds its presidency from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023. This forum holds the G20 summit every year.

The forum looks at issues of international trade, sustainable development, energy, agriculture, environment, climate change and fight against corruption.

G20 members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, United Kingdom, United States of America, and European Union.

These countries are major economies as they cover around 85 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Products (GDP), over 75 per cent of the global trade and about two-thirds of the world population.

It was an honour for India to have several heads of states and governments.

These included Mr. Joe Biden, President of the United States; Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of United Kingdom; Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany; Teyyip Erdogan, President of Turkiye; Mohammed bin Salman, Ruler of Saudi Arabia; Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil; Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada; Joko Widodo, Pesident of Indonesia; Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa; Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan; Charles Michel, President of the European Council; Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy.

However, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin could not come.

They sent important ministers of their cabinets. Among the special invitees were Sheikh Hasina Wazed, Prime Minister of Bangladesh; Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt; Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nayhan, President of United Arab Emirates; and, Nadia Calvino, Deputy Prime Minister of Spain. A few years ago, India had proposed Solar Alliance at the G20.

This year Mr. Modi proposed a bio-fuel alliance. This initiative has helped India become one among the top four nations in terms of wind energy. India has also taken up transition to electric vehicle.

Similarly, India is taking solid steps to reduce Single-use Plastic (SUP) and expansion of sanitation facilities. Many G20 countries are taking India’s help in these directions.

India hosted 220 meetings related with the G20 summit around the year which were held in 60 cities and 28 states and 8 union territories. Over one lakh participants from around the world attended these meetings.

India has offered to help other G20 members in developing and deploying Digital Economy framework where India has achieved good success during the last one decade.

Similarly, in matters of health, development of two important vaccines to fight Covid-19 is a remarkable success. India has promised to expand the health coverage into Global Digital Health Initiative.