10-Nov-2022: Visit of Prime Minister to Indonesia for the G20 Summit

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be visiting Bali, Indonesia from November 14-16 to attend the 17th G20 Summit at the invitation of the President of Indonesia, H.E. Mr. Joko Widodo.

​During the Bali Summit, G20 Leaders will deliberate extensively upon key issues of global concern under the Summit theme of "Recover Together, Recover Stronger”. Three working sessions will be held as part of the G20 Summit Agenda - food and energy security; health; and digital transformation.

​At the closing session of the Summit, President Widodo will symbolically hand over the G20 Presidency to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. India will formally assume the G20 Presidency from 1 December 2022.

On the sidelines of the Summit, Prime Minister will hold bilateral meetings with some of his counterparts. Prime Minister will also address and interact with the Indian community in Bali.

29-Oct-2021: Prime Minister meets Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on the margins of G20 Summit in Rome

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met the Prime Minister of Italy, H.E. Mr. Mario Draghi in Italy on 29 October 2021, on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Rome. This was their first in person meeting. Prime Minister Modi congratulated Prime Minister Draghi for successfully hosting the G20 in the midst of a global pandemic. Italy is also partnering the UK in organizing COP-26 in Glasgow.

The two leaders discussed the challenges posed by climate change, and the need for the international community to work together. Prime Minister highlighted the transformative climate actions undertaken by India, and the concerns of developing countries about climate financing commitments of the developed world.

The two leaders also exchanged views on recent global and regional developments, including in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific. They reiterated their desire for working closer together for furthering the India-EU multi-faceted cooperation.

On the bilateral side, the two leaders reviewed developments since the India-Italy Virtual Summit in November 2020 and expressed satisfaction at the progress in implementation of the 2020-2025 Action Plan adopted at the Virtual Summit that set strategic goals in the political, economic, S&T and cultural spheres to be achieved in the next five years.

The two leaders reiterated their commitment to further expanding trade and investment linkages between the two countries particularly in textiles, food processing, automotive and renewable energy sectors. To provide fresh impetus to the bilateral cooperation in renewables and clean energy, India and Italy issued a Joint Statement announcing a Strategic Partnership on Energy Transition and agreed to explore partnerships in areas such as large size green corridor projects, smart grids, energy storage solutions, gas transportation, integrated waste management (waste-to-wealth), development and deployment of green hydrogen and promotion of bio-fuels. India and Italy also signed a Statement of Intent on Textiles cooperation during the meeting.

Prime Minister extended invitation to PM Draghi to pay an official visit to India at the earliest opportunity.

29-Oct-2021: On the eve of the G20 Summit, India's Leadership on global concerns and its views on a wide array of issues receive strong support - Shri Piyush Goyal

G -20 has acknowledged  India's Leadership on global concerns and has supported  views of India on wide array of issues which would come up on the upcoming summit" said Shri Piyush  Goyal while briefing the media during the ongoing meeting of G 20 Sherpas.

It may be noted that that the agenda of the ongoing Sherpas’ meeting is to finalize the Rome Declaration, which will be adopted by the Leaders at the  Summit.

It may be noted that PM Modi has been invited by the PM of Italy, H.E. Mr. Mario Draghi, and has arrived in Rome earlier this morning. This is PM's 8th G20 Summit. 

Shri Piyush Goyal has been in Rome for the past 3 days to oversee final preparations for PM’s participation in the G20 Summit.

In Italy, Shri Piyush Goyal participated in the 6th G20 Sherpas’ meeting from 27-29 Oct and held  bilateral meetings with many of his G20 counterparts (UK, Germany, France, EU, Indonesia and Singapore)

Shri Goyal said that G20 has emerged as the premier global forum for international cooperation. He said that G 20 represents 80% of the world's GDP, 75% of global trade, and 60% of the world's population

It may be noted that Italy is holding the Presidency of the G20 this year under the theme- ‘People, Planet, Prosperity’ with a focus on:

"Recovery from the pandemic & strengthening global health governance, Economic recovery & resilience, Climate change & energy transition and Sustainable development & food security"

Speaking to the media Shri Goyal said that India fully supports the priority areas chosen by Italy. He said  that the agenda of the just concluded Sherpas’ meeting was to finalize the Rome Declaration, which will be adopted by the Leaders at the G20 Summit

The Minister said  that the G20 has endorsed India’s position that extensive COVID-19 immunization is a global public good and he was happy to get support from G20 colleagues for his suggestion on mutual recognition of travel docs, including  testing and vaccine certificates.

On the issue of Sustainable Development and food security, he said that India has emphasized that policies must protect interests of small and marginal farmers, and conserve local food cultures which in turn will significantly contribute to food security

Shri Goyal said that On Climate Change and Environment,  India has strongly spoken on the need for critical enablers for galvanizing global Climate action which includes commensurate, long term, concessional climate finance, access to affordable and sustainable technology, and commitment to adopt sustainable lifestyles, responsible consumption and production patterns and importance of meeting SDG-12 targets,  especially by the developed countries.

On the issue of post- Covid economic recovery, he said, as co-chairs of the G20 Framework Working Group, India is ensuring that there is no premature withdrawal of support and the most vulnerable sections are provided necessary support. G20 has agreed to extend the Debt Service Suspension Initiative till the end of 2021 thereby giving some breathing space to those in need and those who are vulnerable around the world.

Shri Goyal added that on the issue of Tax Reforms , India has pushed the G20 to address the mismatch between source of generation of profits and the jurisdiction where they are taxed. This will ensure that large MNCs pay a minimum effective corporate tax in the country of their operation.

Elaborating more on the deliberations, Shri Goyal said that on    Anti-Corruption matters , India as the G20 co-chair of the Anti-Corruption working group this year, has contributed towards the 5 think pieces related to Asset Recovery, Information sharing, Law Enforcement Cooperation, Technology & Denial of Safe Haven.

On the issues concerning Women Empowerment, Education and Employment, the Minister for Commerce & Industry Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution,  said that  India supports G20’s emphasis on women’s empowerment. India has strongly advocated for the inclusion of language against gender-based violence and supported the new policy framework of G20 on ‘remote working arrangements’

Shri Goyal added that India highlighted the importance of recovery of the Tourism sector especially given the impact of COVID-19 on this sector. India welcomes G20’s focus on creative economy and preserving cultural heritage.

The Minister said that India strongly pushed for the need for balancing the ‘data free flow with trust’ narrative with cross border data flows and accommodating development imperatives of the developing countries. He added that India has emphasized the importance of using ‘data for development’.

The Minister emphasized that India’s voice in G20 represents the voice of all developing countries.

He noted that It was following PM Modi’s suggestion to the Saudi Leadership in 2020 that, G20 convened an extraordinary Summit on the COVID-19 situation last year

This year, Italy convened a special summit to leverage the G20’s influence in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. G20 also focused on the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially the rights of women, children, minorities and vulnerable people in Afghanistan, according to the principles enshrined in the UN Charter and other relevant international instruments.

Shri Goyal said that India is going to take on the G20 Presidency during 1 Dec, 2022-30 Nov 2023 and enter the Troika in December this year and will take leadership on the issues and concerns of developing countries and emerging market economies in the G20 forum.

19-Nov-2020: 15th G20 Leaders’ Summit (November 21-22, 2020)

At the invitation of His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be attending the 15th G20 Summit chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the theme "Realising the Opportunities of 21st Century for All” on 21-22 November 2020. The meeting will be held in a virtual format.

The upcoming summit is the second G 20 Leaders’ meeting in 2020. Following the telephonic conversation between PM and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the last G 20 Extraordinary Leaders’ summit was held in March 2020, where the leaders developed a timely understanding among the G20 countries to help contain the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic and to forge a global coordinated response.

The focus of the upcoming G20 Summit will be on an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19. During the G 20 Summit, the leaders will discuss pandemic preparedness and the ways and means to restore jobs. The leaders will also share their vision for building an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future.

India will enter the G20 Troika, along with Saudi Arabia when Italy will take over the Presidency of the G-20 on 1st December, 2020.

27-Jun-2019: G20 Osaka Summit 2019

The G20 Summit — formally known as the “Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy" is a council meeting of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, apart from the European Union. Spain, on the other hand, is a permanent guest invitee.

The group was established in 1999 to broaden the remit of the G7 – a grouping of the world’s most powerful nations — and its primary mandate is to “prevent future international financial crises”. Together, members account for roughly 85 percent of the world economy; that's around three-quarters of global trade and two-thirds of the world’s population.

The chairpersons and the members’ leaders initially met twice a year, but this was changed to once a year since 2011. The leaders’ meetings are usually preceded by ministerial meetings by trade ministers, finance ministers and central bank governors, which are designed to set the agenda for the meet of the world’s most powerful leaders.

The summit usually has a number of overarching themes. In Buenos Aires G20 Summit in 2018, these were “the future of work, infrastructure for development and a sustainable food future”. This year, the main agenda of the two-day event is to discuss issues such as international trade, environment, climate change, cross-nation equations, terrorism, and economy.

In the run-up to summits, senior officials known as "sherpas" thrash out the issues for discussion, with the aim of getting G20 members to reach an agreement at the summit. Like sherpas in the Himalayas, they help guide their leaders through often difficult terrain and do the diplomatic legwork.

The heads of a number of international organisations also participate, including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation. There are also meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors, trade representatives, and anti-corruption working groups.

The G20 has been credited with helping avert a shift to protectionism post-global financial crisis in 2008, tripling the International Monetary Fund’s budget and giving development banks more remit. However, it is widely perceived to have failed to address global inequality.

As the "premier forum for international economic cooperation” (agreed by leaders at the Pittsburgh Summit in September 2009), representing more than 80 percent of the global GDP, the G20 has made continuous efforts toward achieving robust global economic growth. And with the progress of globalisation, the recent G20 summits have focused not only on macroeconomy and trade, but also on a wide range of global issues which have an immense impact on the global economy, such as development, climate change and energy, health, counter-terrorism, as well as migration and refugees.

After the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-1998, it was acknowledged that the participation of major emerging market countries is needed on discussions on the international financial system and G7 finance ministers agreed to establish the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in 1999.

The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings were centered on major economic and monetary policy issues amongst major countries in the global financial system and aimed at promoting cooperation towards achieving stable and sustainable global economic growth for the benefit of all countries. The participating members in the meetings were the same as the current G20 members.

In November 2008, the inaugural G20 Summit was held in Washington, DC, in response to the global financial crisis that occurred in the wake of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers. The G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was upgraded to the head of the state level, as a forum for leaders from major developed and emerging market countries. In September 2009, the third summit was held in Pittsburgh where the leaders designated the G20 as the “premier forum for international economic cooperation". From thereon, the summit meetings were held semiannually until 2010 and annually from 2011 onwards.

2-Dec-2018: India to host G20 summit in 2022

India will host the G20 Summit in 2022, when the country celebrates its 75th year of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during the ongoing meet of the international grouping in Argentina.

"It's India's 75th Independence Day in 2022, and we had requested Italy if we can get '22 instead of '21 (for hosting G20 summit).They accepted our request, others accepted it too. I'm grateful and I invite leadership from across the world to come to India in 2022".

7-Jul-2017: 12th G20 Summit. Countries pledge to act tough on Terrorism and eliminate Safe Havens.

12th G20 Summit was recently held at the German city of Hamburg. The theme chosen for this year’s G20 Summit is “Shaping an Inter-connected World”. Issues like free and open trade, migration, sustainable development and global stability came up during the discussions.

Action agenda at G20 to counter terrorism: India’s PM presented a 10-point action agenda for counter-terrorism at the summit.

The agenda includes:

  1. Deterrent action against nations supporting terrorism must be made compulsory, such nations should be barred from G20.
  2. G20 nations must exchange lists of suspected terrorists and their supporters.
  3. Legal processes such as extradition should be simplified and expedited.
  4. Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism should be adopted soon.
  5. UNSC resolutions and other international processes should be effectively implemented.
  6. G20 nations should give emphasis to de-radicalisation programmes and exchange best practices.
  7. Terror financing should be curtailed by means of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other means.
  8. Weapons and Explosive Action Task Force (WEATF) should be constituted on lines of FATF so that source of weapons to the terrorists is stopped.
  9. G20 nations should cooperate in cyber security, with a focus on terrorist activities.
  10. National Security Advisors on Counter Terrorism mechanism should be constituted.

The first session being complete, the next session will see discussions on the rest of the agenda. At present, the summit is to witness brainstorming sessions among 20 biggest countries of the world on all international challenges with the hope that something concrete will emerge at its conclusion.

10-Nov-2022: India hosted the 2nd  BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministers meeting under the chairmanship of Union Agriculture Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar

India hosted the Second Agriculture Ministerial-level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) here today under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar. Agriculture ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the meeting.

While addressing the meeting through video conference, Shri Tomar urged the member countries to cooperate in developing a comprehensive regional strategy to strengthen cooperation for the transformation of agriculture. Referring to the importance of millet as a nutritious food and the efforts made by India to promote millet and its products during the International Year of Millets - 2023, he urged the member countries to adopt a conducive agricultural food system and a healthy diet for all. He asked participating countries to actively participate in India's initiative to promote millet as a food. Shri Tomar said that natural and ecological farming should be promoted to conserve agricultural biodiversity and reduce the use of chemicals.

Shri Tomar said that along with digital farming and precision farming, initiatives under the 'One Health' approach are also taking shape in India. He emphasized the importance of cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors to ensure food security, nutrition, environmental sustainability and livelihood support, for which it is required to increase technical and economic cooperation to deal with the challenges of climate change, agro-biodiversity, microbial preventive resistance under the 'One Health' approach and other programmes.

Shri Tomar reiterated Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's statement at the 5th BIMSTEC Summit held in Colombo in March, 2022 on enhancing regional cooperation between BIMSTEC nations for food security, peace and prosperity in the region. At the same time, he expressed India's commitment to promote agricultural productivity, food security and nutrition, sustainability, research and development and enhance cooperation with BIMSTEC in the areas of agri-business, climate change management, digital agriculture, etc.

The 2nd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministerial Meeting adopted the Action Plan for Strengthening BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation (2023-2027). An MoU between the BIMSTEC Secretariat and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has been signed and approval has been given to bring Fisheries and Livestock sub-sectors under the Agricultural Working Group. BIMSTEC member countries appreciated India's efforts to strengthen cooperation in agricultural research and development and for awarding six scholarships each for postgraduate and PhD programmes in agriculture.

The meeting was attended by the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Kailash Choudhary, Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr. Himanshu Pathak, along with other senior officials of the Ministry.

BIMSTEC was established in the year 1997. It includes five countries of South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two countries of South-East Asia – Myanmar and Thailand.

28-Oct-2022: Major themes of the Research Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) during India's presidency highlighted at G-20 Research Ministers meeting

Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar highlighted that materials for sustainable energy, scientific challenges & opportunities to achieving a sustainable blue economy, biodiversity, and economy would be the major themes and topics of the Research Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) during India's presidency starting from 1st December 2022. 

He informed that discussions would be centered on developing the science for innovation and sustainable growth, connecting science and society, science for culture & heritage, traditional knowledge, and medicine.

“India is committed to implementing G-20 Research Innovation Initiative Gathering (RRIG) deliverables and seek support on the G-20 research and innovation agenda for India's G-20 presidency next year,” said Dr. Chandrasekhar while representing the Minister for Science and Technology at the G-20 Research Ministers meeting at Jakarta.

He elaborated on India’s evolution into a country with major global contributions in research and innovations and highlighted the country’s participation in international scientific collaborations.

“India is partnering in all the global forums, including the construction and establishment of mega-science facilities in India and abroad. We also partner with multilateral forums like UN, ASEAN, BRICS, BIMSTEC, SCO, G-20, etc. Science has to be global, and solutions to challenges should be regional,” he said.

“We aim to adopt a new approach that makes research infrastructure available for all stakeholders and finalising guidelines for Scientific Research Infrastructure Sharing Maintenance and Networks (SRIMAN). Besides, following global trends on a unified nationwide subscription-based model for knowledge, we are creating a central repository for all S&T data,” DST Secretary pointed out.

Dr. Chandrasekhar spoke about India’s efforts in enhancing domestic manufacturing capacity underlining how the country’s generic industry and vaccine manufacturing capability had supported global safety during the pandemic.

“We also promote a plurality of solutions for a variety of social, economic strata as well as geographical regions and focus on rural as well as urban problems in the country. Impact-based research evaluation is undertaken in a framework of research excellence keeping in mind local needs. Mainstreaming science communication has been taken up as a major challenge with the aim of increasing people’s participation in science,” he said.

“India has recently launched policies like Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to disseminate scientific knowledge and also promote science and technology across the ecosystems. We also launched many programmes for gender equality in the country. Many national missions have been launched partnering with international players to work on cyber-physical systems health, education, energy, environment, agriculture, Industry 4.0, etc.,” DST Secretary pointed out, expressing confidence that collaborations will bring opportunities for G-20 partners and promote innovation as single point agenda for all in the group.

The Research Ministers meeting has been planned to be held in 1st week of July 2023.

6-Aug-2021: Shri Subhas Sarkar addresses the G20 Research Ministers’ Meeting virtually

The Minister of State for Education Shri Subhas Sarkar participated in the G20 Research Ministers’ meeting today. The meeting was hosted in blended mode by Italy. G20 Education Ministers exchanged views on enhancing research collaborations and sharing digital space among G20 Countries for a strong, sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery. MoS, Education, Smt. Annapurna Devi; MoS, Education, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Secretary Higher Education Shri Amit Khare and senior officials of the Ministry were also present during the meeting.

Representing India, Shri Subhas Sarkar reiterated the country’s commitment to promote research and to skill, reskill and upskill the youth and collaborating with other G-20 countries to achieve this objective. He said that India attaches great importance to work with G20 partners and find evidence-based solutions to common problems.

Speaking on National Education Policy, 2020, the Minister said India’s National Education Policy launched in 2020 under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, seeks to strengthen the research ecosystem of the country by establishing a National Research Foundation.

The Minister informed that India has introduced AI in the school curriculum from grade 6 onwards and also started engineering courses in regional languages to ensure that language does not pose a hurdle to higher learning and research. The Minister further informed that the Government of India supports diverse schemes like SPARC and GIAN to promote academic and research collaboration between India and other countries. Indian institutions are entering into twinning arrangements with foreign universities. We have set up an Academic Bank of Credit that will facilitate such arrangements, he added.

He highlighted that during the pandemic, Indian Higher Educational institutions worked on research projects and developed vaccines against Covid 19, low-cost ventilators and many other medical equipments.

The Minister stated that India emphasizes leveraging relevant technologies for maximum gain in the education sector, for which a National Education Technology Forum as an umbrella body is launched.

India acknowledges the concerted efforts being made by countries to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and build back a more resilient education system.

Regarding ensuring educational continuity during the pandemic, the Minister shared that India has promoted blended learning extensively.  India launched PM eVidya programme under which we ensured continuity of education across the country with a mix of online, television and radio modes, through our initiatives SWAYAM, DIKSHA, SWAYAM PRABHA and many more.

The Minister reaffirmed the support of the Government of India to the collective efforts of the G-20 countries in building a resilient education system and said he look forward to work with partner countries to fulfill the shared priorities in this area.

Later, a Declaration of G20 Ministers on Leveraging Research, Higher Education and Digitalisation for a Strong, Sustainable, Resilient and Inclusive Recovery was adopted at the end of the meeting.