Finance
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend the first G20 meeting, where he would discuss major issues affecting India and the global south.
This is the fourth G20 summit held by the Global South, following Indonesia, India, and Brazil’s presidencies. Prior to South Africa, the G20 was led by Brazil (2024), India (2023), and Indonesia (2022).
PM Modi will attend the G20 meeting, which will be hosted on the African continent for the first time, from November 21 to 23. This will be PM Modi’s fourth official visit to South Africa, following a bilateral visit in 2016 and his participation in the two BRICS summits in 2018 and 2023.
According to Sudhakar Dalela, Secretary (ER) of the Ministry of External Affairs, the G20 is an essential venue, with countries agreeing in previous sessions to adopt a consensus declaration, pilot and launch new initiatives on a variety of issues affecting the Global South.
“We are very happy that these discussions have carried forward under the presidency of Brazil and, of course, in South Africa under four verticles that South Africa has outlined for their own presidency. A number of achievements have been made throughout the year across various tracks in these areas. So we are very happy that the issues of importance to the Global South are at the centre of discussion and are being highlighted,” Secretary added.
The G20 includes large economies accounting for 85% of global GDP and 75% of international trade. The forum has highlighted priority issues for South Africa’s presidency theme of ‘Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability’.
Secretary Dalela stated that bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the G20 are now in the planning stages.
He went on to say that India and South Africa are democracies whose collaboration is built on three pillars, one of which is political cooperation. The African Union, which joined the G20 as a permanent member during India’s chairmanship in 2023, will play an important role in setting the summit’s agenda.
