Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a virtual summit of the Group of 20 (G20) leaders on Wednesday. The summit is expected to feature discussions on the implementation of the Delhi Declaration issued at the end of the G20 Summit in Delhi earlier this year.
While several leaders of the grouping are expected to attend the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping is again going to skip the meeting. Premier Li Qiang is going to attend in his place, just like the summit in Delhi that Xi also skipped.
Earlier, India had said that it would hold a virtual summit of G20 once before the conclusion of its yearlong presidency of the grouping. In times of a raging war in Ukraine and deep divisions in the world, the issuance of a joint communique at the end of the G20 Summit in Delhi was hailed as a major achievement of the Indian presidency. The inclusion of the African Union (AU) as a permanent member of the grouping under the Indian presidency was also a major achievement, which has been seen as part of the Indian efforts to be the leader of the developing world.
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Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said, "The virtual summit of the G20 being held tomorrow will also be a major gathering of world leaders since the conclusion of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly and the SDG Summit."
Noting that several challenges have emerged since the September G20 summit, Kant said development would be the primary focus of the virtual meeting and leaders might engage in discussions on a myriad of other issues, reported PTI.
"We are expecting a large majority of G20 leaders to be present," said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, as per PTI, adding that it would not be correct to pre-judge if the issues of geo-political tensions will be raised at the meeting.
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The virtual summit of G20 comes at a time when a war is raging in the Middle East. While the United States and allies have supported Israel against Hamas, Russia and China are among those calling for an immediate ceasefire. France too has called for a ceasefire. On Tuesday, BRICS chair South African called an extraordinary summit of the grouping over the conflict.
Further elaborating about Wednesday's virtual summit, Kant said the goal was to address gaps in global governance, reaffirm commitments to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and progress toward a revitalised multilateral system better positioned to positively impact people's lives, according to PTI.
