Prime Minister Modi has gone to South Africa for the G20 summit. Issues of India and the Global South will be discussed in this conference which will run from 21-23 November. This is the first G20 summit held on the African continent.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for Johannesburg, South Africa to attend the G20 summit. They will discuss important issues related to India and the Global South. The summit is the fourth consecutive G20 meeting hosted by the Global South, following the presidencies of Indonesia, India and Brazil. Before South Africa, the G20 presidency was held by Brazil (2024), India (2023) and Indonesia (2022).
PM Modi will attend the summit from November 21 to 23, which is the first G20 summit to be held on the African continent. This will be PM Modi’s fourth official visit to South Africa. Earlier he had attended a bilateral visit in 2016 and two BRICS summits in 2018 and 2023. According to Sudhakar Dalela, Secretary (ER), Ministry of External Affairs, the G20 is an important forum where in previous sessions countries agreed to make consensus declarations, launch pilot projects and take new initiatives on a range of topics affecting the Global South.
The Secretary said, “We are very pleased that these discussions have moved forward under the Brazilian Presidency and, of course, in South Africa under the four pillars that South Africa has set out for its Chairmanship. A number of achievements have been made in these areas on different tracks throughout the year. Therefore, we are very pleased that issues important to the Global South are at the center of the discussions and are being highlighted.”
The G20 comprises major economies that account for 85% of global GDP and 75% of international trade. The Forum has identified priority areas under the theme of South Africa’s presidency, ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability’. Regarding the bilateral meetings to be held on the sidelines of the G20, Secretary Dalela said that the process of organizing them is underway. He further said that India and South Africa are democracies and they have three pillars of cooperation, one of which is political cooperation. The African Union, which becomes a permanent member of the G20 during India’s 2023 presidency, will play a key role in shaping the agenda of the summit.