Face of Nation : New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 14th G20 summit in Japan’s Osaka city from June 28 to June 29, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press briefing on Friday.
Modi is scheduled to hold talks with United States President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the summit.
The summit will also be attended by heads of state or government of member countries, European Union and other invited nations and international organisations, said the MEA.
“This would be the sixth time that Prime Minister Modi would be participating in the summit. He would hold bilateral (discussions) and participate in plurilateral meetings which would be announced closer to the date,” said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.
The ministry also announced that former Union minister Suresh Prabhu will be India’s sherpa at the G20 meet. A sherpa is the personal representative of a head of state or government who prepares an international summit, particularly the annual G7 and G20 summits.
“The issues of importance for India at G20 includes energy security, financial stability, disaster resilient infrastructure, reformed multilateralism, WTO reforms, countering terrorism, return of economic fugitives, food security, democratization of technologies and portable social security schemes,” the government said in a statement.
Modi’s likely meeting with Trump, the first since his re-election last month, is set to attract a lot of attention amid strengthening of strategic ties between the two countries.
“Over a period of time, particularly after the economic shock of 2008, the G20 has become a very important global platform,” Prabhu said, adding the bloc’s members contribute about 85% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The members of G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Collectively, the G20 economies account for nearly 90% of the gross world product, 80% of world trade, two-thirds of the world population, and approximately half of the world land area.
Talking about India’s agenda at the meeting, Prabhu said India will discuss important issues such as energy security, financial stability, reforming multilateralism, and WTO reform. “We strongly feel that WTO should be strengthened and it should be the body through which global trade should be regulated,” he said.
Prabhu said issues such as return of fugitive economic offenders, terrorism, portable social security schemes, disaster-resilient infrastructure, as well as food security will also be raised by India.
There are going to be four sessions — global economy: trade and investment; innovation in digital economy and artificial intelligence; addressing inequalities and realising and inclusive sustainable world; and climate change, energy and environment, he said, adding the prime minister will lead India’s stand on all these issues.
Asked about growing protectionism and trade wars among major world powers, Prabhu said India fully supports free flow of trade.
“India is one of the most open economies of the world today. We get FDI without barriers in several sectors, so India has the right to demand reciprocal treatment from other countries of the world. We have not fully benefitted from opening borders. It is a time when India’s economy is 2.8 trillion dollars. We are poised to grow we need to work with others,” he said.
The summit under Japanese presidency is centered around the theme “Human centered future society”.
