G20 Summit: Leaders converge as PM Modi pushes for inclusive growth

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, September 8

The G20 summit is set to begin on Saturday with most world leaders having arrived here and senior government officials expressing hope the Ukraine issue might not derail a joint communique at the end of the summit.

PM holds meetings with Hasina, Pravind

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held bilateral talks with his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Today’s events

PM to chair 2 sessions

PM Modi will chair both sessions to be held on Saturday. The sessions — ‘One Earth’ and ‘One Family’ — cover a range of critical issues

Bilaterals lined up

UK PM Rishi Sunak | Japan PM Fumio Kishida | German Chancellor Olaf Scholz | Italy PM G Meloni

Gala dinner at 8 pm

President Draupadi Murmu to host gala dinner at Bharat Mandapam

India’s G20 presidency has been marred by the absence of joint declarations at the end of several ministerials held so far and instead the final document was labelled “Chair’s Summary”. Sources said all sides were exploring the option of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-type joint declaration, wherein a joint communique is issued and India’s objection to laudatory references to China’s Belt and Road are “noted” by the document.

At a press conference of India’s top four officials steering the summit, there were no comments on whether the membership of the African Union will convert the grouping into G21 or if China was putting a spanner in discussions on climate change. But they said the declaration was “almost ready” and all countries could agree on its full text. “India’s expectation is that all G20 members will move towards a consensus and we are hopeful of a consensus on the communique,” said Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra. “Our New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration is almost ready, and only after it is accepted by the leaders, we will be able to talk about the actual achievements of this declaration,” noted India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant. He also said the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration will reflect the voice of Global South, while, in a series of tweets, PM Narendra Modi said he was confident that the summit will chart a new path in human-centric and inclusive development.