November 23, 2020: India will host the 2023 G-20 Summit. The 2022 Summit, which India was supposed to hold earlier, will now be hosted by Indonesia. Previously, in the Osaka declaration of G-20 in 2019, it was decided that India would host the 2022 Summit. The decision was declared in the G20 Riyadh Summit Leaders Declaration.
“We thank Saudi Arabia for hosting a successful Riyadh Summit and its contribution to the G20 process. We look forward to our next meetings in Italy in 2021, Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024,” the Declaration said.
This year’s G-20 Summit was hosted by Saudi Arabia and was held virtually due to COVID-19 pandemic. The theme for this year was “Realizing Opportunities of [the] 21st Century for All”. The two day summit focused on overcoming the pandemic, economic recovery and restoring jobs, and building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.
Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi announced that Indonesia agreed to host the Summit in 2022 since it would also chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2023.
At the summit, India’s Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi called for a decisive action to preserve the planet. At a side event on “Safeguarding the planet” he emphasised, “India is not only meeting Paris Agreement targets, but will be exceeding them” . He also called for a new global index based on transparency in governance and the creation of a vast talent pool. He added that apart from emphasis on Capital and Finance, “time has come to focus on Multi-Skilling and Re-skilling to create a vast Human Talent Pool”.
“PM called for a new Global Index for the Post-Corona World that comprises four key elements – creation of a vast Talent Pool; ensuring that Technology reaches all segments of the society; Transparency in systems of governance; and dealing with Mother Earth with a spirit of Trusteeship,” said a statement released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
Noting that Work From Home is a new norm, Mr Modi also suggested creation of a “G20 Virtual Secretariat”. He extended India’s offer to help develop digital facilities for G-20.
“We offered India’s IT prowess to further develop digital facilities for efficient functioning of theG20,” he said.
G-20 is a high profile international forum for governments and central bank governors of 19 countries and European Union. It was founded in 1999 G7 Finance Ministers meeting to promote international financial stability. Since 2011, the group has held annual summits of the leaders. Apart from 20 permanent members, several participants like chair of ASEAN and chair of African Union are invited specially to attend the summits. The host country can also invite other non member countries or international organizations to attend the annual summit. After the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, other issues of global importance like healthcare, development aid, empowerment of women, were added to the G-20 agenda. Italy will host the 2021 G-20 Summit.
