G20 Summit: Here are the big names attending and what they bring to the table

This weekend’s G20 Summit in New Delhi will bring together some of the most important and influential leaders in the world. The Leaders’ Summit, which marks the closing of India’s year-long G20 leadership, is anticipated to draw more than 40 heads of state and other high-profile diplomats. The guest list also includes US president Joe Biden, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, Canada prime minister Justin Trudeau, and several other world leaders. The crucial international event of the year will feature discussions on geopolitical concerns, economic slowdowns, and rising food and energy costs with the heads of state. Here is a list of confirmed G20 attendees and absentees. Also read: What is the G20 and why is it important? Confirmed G20 attendees Joe Biden today confirmed that he is on his way and would arrive in New Delhi at 6:55 p.m. (tentative time). The 80-year-old American leader aims to talk about how the conflict in Ukraine is affecting the world, the clean energy transition, the fight against climate change, and strengthening multilateral banks’ ability to fight poverty. Rishi Sunak will attend the Summit in the National Capital on his first official visit to India as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He will arrive in Delhi at 1.40 pm and Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Ashwini Kumar Choubey will be greeting him. Japan PM Fumio Kishida will arrive in India at 2.15 pm and as a current chair of the G7 is likely to lead criticism against Russia for the Ukraine war. Currently in Indonesia, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau will attend the G20 Summit in India on 9 and 10 September, according to his office. He is scheduled to arrive at 7 pm today. Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, will be present at the summit and is scheduled to meet with PM Modi separately on the sidelines. [caption id=“attachment_13090792” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] G20 logo installed in front of ITC Maurya Hotel in preparation for the summit in New Delhi. PTI[/caption] Australian PM Minister Anthony Albanese will attend the summit as part of a three-nation tour that also covers Indonesia, the Philippines, and India. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology will welcome the Australian leader when he arrives today at 6.15 pm. German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will be in New Delhi, has stated that the meeting is still significant despite the absence of Russia and China. He is due to land in New Delhi on Saturday at 12.35 pm. The president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, will probably urge summit participants to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations. Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African president, will be attending the Summit with Naledi Pandor, minister of international relations and cooperation. Turkiye president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be reaching New Delhi around 10.15 pm. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni arrived in Delhi today, according to ANI sources, and was welcomed by Shobha Karadlaje, the minister of state for agriculture. Argentina’s president Alberto Fernandez arrived early on Friday morning in Delhi for the Summit. Faggan Singh Kulaste, the minister of state for rural development and steel, welcomed him. On Thursday, Prahalad Singh Patel, Minister of Jal Shakti and Minister of Food Processing Industries, welcomed Charles Michel, President of the European Council, at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, also arrived in the National Capital and was welcomed by MoS Anupriya Singh Patel. Also read: The big goals of the G20 Summit as chalked out by PM Narendra Modi Who will be absent One of the Summit’s most noticeable absences will be Xi Jinping. Li Qiang, the Premier of The State Council of China, will serve as the delegation’s leader while he is away. Since the first G20 summit was held in 2008, this will be the first time a Chinese president has missed one. This year, Vladimir Putin will also skip the G20 Summit. The Russian president is wanted for questioning by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes committed in Ukraine, which the Kremlin vehemently rejects. He now runs the possibility of being detained while travelling abroad. Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, will represent the nation in New Delhi. The president of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, announced that he will be unable to attend the Summit after testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. The high-profile event will not be attended by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Guest nations at the summit The leaders of Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Oman, Singapore, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates have also been invited, in addition to G20 members. In addition, top administrators from international organisations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations will attend the summit. [caption id=“attachment_13097432” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption] Also read: G20 Summit: Why a joint declaration is unlikely Bilateral meetings According to NDTV sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would likely have 15 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 summit. At his official residence on Friday, PM Modi will hold bilateral discussions with both the US president and the prime minister of Bangladesh, according to the news channel’s sources. He will also have a meeting with the president of Mauritius. The Indian and the US leader will discuss several topics ranging from small nuclear reactors, the GE jet engine deal, the procurement of predator drones, 5G and 6G spectrum, easing of visas and new consulates, the Russia-Ukraine war, and reforms of multilateral development banks. PM Modi will have lunch with French president Macron on the summit’s last day. Macron will carry on his continuing conversations with his peers from all over the world during the G20 Summit. It will be a chance to advance the implementation of coordinated responses to the most important global issues that can be resolved through multilateral action, according to ANI. Issuing a statement, French President’s office said, “The G20 Summit will enable France’s Head of State to continue his ongoing dialogue with his counterparts from every continent, so as to combat the risks of fragmentation of the world. It will also be an opportunity to make progress in implementing joint responses to the major global challenges that can only be tackled effectively through multilateral action: peace and stability, poverty alleviation, protection of climate and our planet, food security, and digital regulation.” It further said, “The Summit will also provide an opportunity to follow up on the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact held in Paris last June. This has led to the establishment of the Paris Agenda for People and the Planet, providing a framework for collective action to ensure that no country has to choose between fighting poverty and protecting the planet.” [caption id=“attachment_13097932” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption] Along with attending the G20 activities on Saturday, the Indian PM will also meet with the leaders of the UK, Japan, Germany, and Italy in private. As per NDTV sources, he will have a pull-aside meeting with Canadian PM Trudeau and bilateral meetings with Comoros, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, the European Union/European Commission, Brazil, and Nigeria. Hindustan Times reported that PM Modi will use the G20 Summit to focus on the global south and give the 17 Sustainable Development Goals a priority status because a 2021 UN report had shown that the global pandemic had a disastrous effect on them. The Ukraine War and its Effect on the Global Economy will be the topic of political discussion during the G20 Summit. India has vowed to magnify the voice of the Global South, which is made up of a large number of largely developing nations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Oceania, and the Caribbean, many of which were once colonial powers. According to News18, New Delhi has concentrated on concerns impacting developing countries in the lead-up to the summit, including food and fuel insecurity, growing inflation, debt, and reforms of multilateral development banks.

With inputs from agencies Also read: G20 Summit 2023: What are the curbs in Delhi? What remains open?