Before India takes up the presidency of G-20 formally on December 1, the government plans to hold a special meeting at the Taj Exotica Resort and Spa on Havelock Island from November 25 to 27. This event will bring together diplomats from all missions of G-20 countries and some UN agencies for a special briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the G-20 Secretariat.
Havelock Island is located in the Indian Union Territory of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands located in the southern Bay of Bengal. The southern most islands in this archipelago occupy a strategic location – akin to a sentinel over the crucial Malacca Strait though which over 30% of world trade moves.
India’s G20 presidency will be “inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who accepted the ceremonial gavel from Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a handover event during the conclusion of the G-20 summit in Bali.
Additional special invitees will be Ambassadors and High Commissioners from Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, and Spain.
Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Russia, Turkey, Australia, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, and U.K., have already indicated their acceptance, while some nations such as France, Italy, Japan will send deputies, while the U.S., China, UAE and Bangladesh will send other officials as they do not have an accredited Ambassador at present.
G-20 ‘Sherpa’ Amitabh Kant, ‘Sous Sherpa’ Abhay Thakur, and G-20 National Coordinator and former Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla will put forth a preview of India’s plans for its year of the G-20 presidency.
The agenda includes interactive meetings with the diplomats to discuss policy agendas on various issues, including trade and investment, climate change, food and energy security, health, as well as all the major items on the agenda for the grouping of the world’s most advanced economies.
The meeting will pave the way for the schedule of G-20 technical and ministerial meetings over the next 10 months, leading up to the G-20 summit in September 2023, which will be held in Delhi.
The government said that in a departure from the norms of previous G-20s, where a single venue is chosen for most events, it hopes to hold the approximately 200 G-20 official meetings in about 50 locations pan-India including in all its States and Union Territories.
