India reaches half the mark milestone of the 100th G20 meeting under her Presidency today

New Delhi: India reached to conduct the 100th G20 Presidency meeting today, with the hosting of its G20 meeting of Agriculture Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi. The 2nd Health Working Group in Goa, the 2nd Digital Economy Working Group in Hyderabad and the Space Economy Leaders’ Precursor Meeting in Shillong today, respectively.

100 G20 meetings have been held in forty-one cities, covering twenty-eight States and Union Territories. Over 12,300 delegates from over 110 nationalities have attended G20-related meetings so far. Officials said it includes participation from G20 members, nine invitee countries, and 14 international organizations.

India will host foreign delegates for over 200 G20-related meetings in around 60 cities across India, the widest geographical spread in any G20 Presidency.

A new Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), a new Engagement Group, “Startup 20”, and a new Initiative, Chief Science Advisers’ Roundtable (CSAR), have been operationalized in India’s G20 Presidency.

The eleven Engagement Groups provide a platform for dialogue among the private sector, academia, civil society, youth and women, institutions including the Parliaments, audit authorities and urban administrations.

To date, three Ministerial meetings have been held. The first Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (FMCBG) was held in Bengaluru on 24-25 February 2023, the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM) was held in New Delhi on 1-2 March 2023, and the second FMCBG meeting was held in Washington DC on 12-13 April 2023.

India, in its Presidency, is amplifying the voice and concerns of the Global South and developing countries. The Voice of Global South Summit held in January 2023, chaired by the Prime Minister, was attended by 125 countries, including eighteen at the Heads of State/Government level and others at the Ministerial level.

Many activities are simultaneously being held with active public participation in a whole-of-nation and whole-of-society approach, making India’s G20 Presidency a “People’s G20”. These include the G20 University Connect lecture series, Model G20 meetings, Special G20 sessions in Schools/Universities, G20 Pavilions in major festivals, Quiz contests, Selfie competitions, #G20India stories, and hundreds of other G20-theme events by the civil society and private sector

Deliberations during India’s ongoing G20 Presidency comprise broad priority areas such as inclusive and resilient growth; progress on SDGs, green development, and Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE); technological transformation and public digital infrastructure; reforming multilateral institutions; women-led development; and international peace and harmony.

India’s G20 Presidency commenced on 1 December 2022 and will continue until 30 November 2023. The G20 Leaders’ Summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, 2023.

Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the UAE will be the “guest countries” at the event Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, United Kingdom, and United States) and European Union.

The G20 members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the worldwide trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.