With the largest multilateral summits right around the corner, which will see participation from over 40 world and institution leaders, India is gearing up to host the two-day 2023 G20 Summit on 9 and 10 September.
However, questions still remain regarding the guestlist, and the presence of some world leaders in New Delhi for the summit.
Assuming the G20 Presidency presents an immense diplomatic opportunity for India, and New Delhi is making the most of this chance.
The G20 is composed of 19 nations that jointly contribute to approximately 85% of the global GDP and 75% of international trade. These figures underscore its substantial influence, as decisions made, or not made, within the group hold significant weight.
Originally established in 1999 to address a worldwide financial crisis, the G20 initially focused on Finance Ministers and Governors of major banks. Over time, its scope has expanded, particularly crucial now during a period marked by numerous challenges.
These challenges encompass a looming food crisis, energy scarcities, pronounced climate change, the ongoing pandemic, and the repercussions of the Ukraine conflict.
With these pressing issues on its docket, the G20's recent meeting was not only its largest in history but also perhaps the most contentious, as each member nation wields its influence on the matters at hand.
Who's Coming? Who's Not?
The G20 Summit will see a line-up of over 25 world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British PM Rishi Sunak.
The Quint accessed a list of world leaders who have been invited to attend the summit, and all but two countries will be represented by their leaders. However, some leaders are yet to confirm their attendance.
G20 Members
Here is the complete list of G20 member states invited to the summit:
Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa
Emmanuel Macron, President of France
Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan
Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy
Joe Biden, President of the United States of America
Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, President of Brazil
Mohammad Bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia
Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Xi Jinping, President of China
Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea
Moreover, it will also see participation from the heads of two European bodies, namely Charles Michel, President of the European Council and Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
A big priority of the Indian government at present is to ensure Xi Jinping’s physical presence in New Delhi since Xi hasn’t confirmed his participation to keep his hosts on tenterhooks.
On 11 August, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi publicly confirmed that Xi is yet to confirm his participation in the G20 event.
An MEA staffer told The Quint that confirmations are also pending from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina.
Russia is set to be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after President Vladimir Putin announced that he would not be able to attend.
Moreover, Mexico’s delegation will not be led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador but by Minister of Economy Raquel Buenrostro Sanchez.
President Lopez has opted for ministerial representation in previous G20 summits as well, as seen during Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard's presence during the 2022 G20 summit in Bali and previous editions in Italy and Osaka.
Invited Nations
Additionally, India has also invited leaders from nine nations who are not a part of the G20 Cohort. They include:
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of Egypt
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius
Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of Nigeria
Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore
Pedro Sanchez, President of Spain
Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, President of UAE
Sayyid Asad Bin Tariq Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister of Oman and personal representative of Sultan Haitham bin Tarik
Global Institution Leaders
Leaders of pivotal multilateral organisations will also grace the occasion, including:
Ajay Banga, President of World Bank
Ajay Mathur, Director General of the International Solar Alliance
Amit Prothi, Director General of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organization
Klaas Knot, Chair of the Financial Stability Board
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
Masatsugu Asakawa, President of the Asian Development Bank
Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organisation
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO)
A Few Firsts, Several 'Regulars' to Attend
Moreover, some leaders attending the G20 Summit in New Delhi also have planned state visits to India: US President Joe Biden will visit India from 7 to 10 September alongside the summit, while Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prime Mohammed Bin Salman will be on a state visit to India on 11 September.
Several of these leaders have also recently visited India or held talks with PM Modi.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who last visited India in 2019, will arrive in New Delhi at the heels of the two leaders speaking at the BRICS Summit in South Africa and rising tensions at the Line of Actual Control.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend the G20 Summit just days after the country hosted the BRICS Summit, attended by PM Modi, China’s Xi Jinping, Brazil’s Lula Da Silva, and Russia’s Sergey Lavrov.
Italian PM Meloni, Japanese PM Kishida, Australian PM Albanese and German Chancellor Scholz visited India at various times this year. However, this will be the first India visit for Indian-origin British PM Rishi Sunak and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
ASEAN will be represented by Indonesian President Widodo, who is its chair, and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD's representation will be shouldered by Egypt's El Sisi.
Azali Assoumani, President of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union, will also take part in the summit.
The Summit's Agenda
The G20 Summit 2023 is being hosted under the theme 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' or 'One Earth, One Family, One Future,’ an ancient Sanskrit phrase frequently invoked by the current Indian government, emphasises global cooperation.
Of particular focus during the summit will be India's relationship with its neighbour China.
Recent developments, like the BRICS Summit, where PM Modi and Chinese President Xi aimed to expedite troop disengagement along the Line of Actual Control, have spotlighted the nuances in communication between the two nations.
Moreover, China’s recent perceived aggressions: the “2023 edition of the standard map of China”, which continues to show the Indian state Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region within China’s borders, has also stoked tensions just days before the summit.
India's foreign relations have also faced challenges due to the Russian-Ukraine conflict since early 2022.
Diplomatic intricacies have caused some Western partners, notably Washington and Europe, to view India's actions as driven by its own interests rather than shared values. Nonetheless, Modi's June visit to the US fostered commitments to enhance technological collaboration between the countries.
India, positioning itself as the advocate for the Global South, is set on advancing the priorities of developing and less-developed nations.
Modi's message at the Voice of Global South summit underscored India's solidarity with these nations, and this sentiment carries over into India's G20 Presidency, aiming to amplify their voices.
The G20 Summit will culminate with a Leaders' Declaration outlining the discussed priorities. US President Joe Biden's participation is anticipated, with topics like the societal consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, climate change, and multilateral development banks' roles in poverty alleviation on the agenda.
The White House has expressed Biden's commitment to the G20 as a prime platform for global economic cooperation, addressing shared challenges such as clean energy and global issues.
Moreover, while India has not included Ukraine in the list of invitees for the summit, sources within India’s Ministry of External Affairs told The Quint that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may follow similar tracks to his video message during the G20 Bali Summit and address the leaders.
Zelenskyy has also tried to make his presence felt by holding interactions with other G20 leaders like this year, he landed unannounced at the Arab League Summit on his way to the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May, where he had also met PM Narendra Modi.
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