India to host virtual G20 Summit on November 22

India, which holds the presidency of G20, will hold a virtual summit on November 22 and will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The key issues that will be raised at the summit include the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas conflict and the challenges facing the Global South. It may be recalled that at the end of the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September, Prime Minister Modi announced that since India’s presidency of G20 will end in November, the country will hold a virtual summit that month. India has already sent invitations to leaders of the G20 member nations for the virtual summit. According to sources familiar with the matter, India will focus on its development agenda for the grouping with a focus on challenges being faced by the Global South or the developing countries. However, unlike the New Delhi Declaration that was released by the G20 countries in September, the virtual summit will not see a joint outcome document at the end. India is expected to focus on its development agenda including initiatives in areas of digital public infrastructure, climate finance and clean energy. In the last few years, India has been positioning itself as a leading voice, flagging concerns, challenges and aspirations of the Global South or the developing nations, especially the African continent. As the G20 president, India has been focusing on issues like inclusive growth, digital innovation, climate resilience, and equitable global health access to benefit the Global South. The G20 member countries represent around 85 percent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. The grouping comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU). With inputs from PTI