New Delhi: For the second time, India’s turn to host the G-20 has been postponed. G-20 leaders announced on Sunday that India will be the chair of the multilateral group a year later, in 2023 rather than 2022.
“We look forward to our next meetings in Italy in 2021, Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024,” said the G-20 declaration released on Sunday.
India had first got the chance to host the summit for 2021. But, during the 2018 summit in Argentina, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had requested for a change so that its G-20 chairmanship would coincide with the 75th anniversary of Indian independence.
The change in timing had been announced by Modi publicly through his statement in Buenos Aires and social media accounts.
Two years later, India will have to wait again a bit longer. From the timing, it is clear that India and Indonesia have basically swapped their turns.
However, no reason for this change has been given publicly. Indonesia was earlier scheduled to hold both G-20 and ASEAN summits in 2023.
“The order of the rotating presidency is decided among member states on the basis of consultations and mutual convenience,” said official sources.
During the two-day virtual summit hosted by Saudi Arabia, Modi called for the post-coronavirus world to have 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”.
He also said that in sync with the new normal of “work from anywhere”, G-20 should have a virtual secretariat and documentation repository.