Cabinet approves PM-guided G20 Secretariat

New Delhi, February 15

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the setting up of a G20 Secretariat and its reporting structures, which will be responsible for implementation of overall policy decisions and arrangements needed for steering India’s forthcoming G20 Presidency.

India will hold the Presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022 to November 20, 2023, culminating with the G20 Summit in India in 2023.

India’s turn by rotation to host the Presidency was this year. But PM Modi sought a deferment by a year so that he could host the grand Summit closer to the general elections and the tail end of 75th independence anniversary celebrations.

As per practice, every host country has to set up a G20 Secretariat to handle work relating to content, technical and logistical aspects of India’s G20 Presidency. It will be manned by officers and staff from the MEA, Ministry of Finance, and other relevant line Ministries/Departments and domain knowledge experts. The Secretariat will be functional till February 2024.

The Secretariat will be guided by an Apex Committee headed by Prime Minister, and comprising Ministers of Finance, Home and External Affairs, and G20 Sherpa to provide overall guidance to India’s G20 Presidency. Further, a Coordination Committee will also be set up to oversee all G20 preparations and report to the Apex Committee. The G20 Secretariat will enable long term capacity building, including knowledge and expertise, for India’s leadership on global issues in multilateral fora.

On December 1 last year, India had joined the G20 Troika which now consists of Indonesia, Italy, and India – the current, previous and incoming G20 Presidencies.

Italy hosted the G-20 summit last year, Indonesia will host it this year and India will be the host in 2023.

As a founding member of the G20, India has used the platform to raise issues of vital importance and those that impact on the most vulnerable around the world.