Despite Some Hiccups, India Deftly Leads the G20

NEW DELHI. India assumed the Presidency of G20 (the Group of 20 countries comprising 19 large economies and the European Union) for 2023 from Indonesia on 1st December, 2022.

- ASHOK SAJJANHAR (RETD)

While accepting this responsibility in Bali in November, 2022, PM Narendra Modi said that India's G20 presidency will be "inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented." 

Even before it had formally taken over the Presidency, India invited the envoys of all the G20 countries and guest invitees based in Delhi to a brain storming and briefing session end-November, 2022 about India's G20 priorities to Swaraj Deep (formerly Havelock Island) in the picturesque Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The first sherpa meeting was organized in the first week of December, 2022 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. This set the stage for the rapid flurry of meetings which followed soon thereafter. India has set a blistering pace by organizing several meetings in different parts of the country from Chennai to Chandigarh and from Gujarat to Guwahati in just 3 months of its Presidency.

FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING

One of the most high-profile events held so far has been the Foreign Ministers' meeting (FMM) that took place in New Delhi on 1st and 2nd March, 2023. 27 out of the 29 invited foreign ministers (Japan and Republic of Korea were represented by their Vice Minister/Minister of State as the FMs were occupied with some parliamentary responsibilities in their capitals) participated in these deliberations. This is the largest count of foreign ministers to have attended any previous FMM. In addition, because this meeting was arranged to coincide with the flagship Ideas Event, the Raisina Dialogue, New Delhi witnessed the presence of the Italian Prime Minister as well as a large number of other ministers and senior officials from around the world. Representatives of 13 International Organisations also took part in the deliberations.