India is going to hold a virtual meeting of the leaders of the Group of 20 (G-20) countries on November 22, according to a report.
India holds the presidency of the G-20 and held the G-20 Summit in Delhi earlier this year. At the conclusion of the summit, India had said that it would hold a virtual meeting of the leaders once before the end of the presidency.
In a separate but related development, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Tuesday hosted the ambassadors of the G-20 member states, guest countries, and international organisations. In his interactions with envoys, EAM Jaishankar thanked the G20 member nations for their "whole-hearted" support to India's presidency of the grouping.
India has already sent out invitations for the virtual meeting of the G-20 leaders, reported PTI, adding that the meeting would not have any joint document.
The ongoing Ukraine War, Israel-Hamas War, and the challenges of the Global South such as climate financing and clean energy are understood to be on the agenda of the virtual meeting, reported PTI.
"It is learnt that 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...
Diplomatic sources said the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict are set to figure at the deliberations. However, India is expected to focus on its development agenda including initiatives in areas of digital public infrastructure, climate finance and clean energy," reported PTI.
India push for the issues of the developing world, referred to as the Global South, was also evident in the G-20 Summit. It was during Indian presidency that African Union (AU) was inducted as the Permanent Member of the G-20. The Indian presidency saw a push for climate financing, clean energy, digital innovation, equitable access to healthcare, etc.
