PM Modi is expected to hold about 10 bilateral meetings as well as Russia-India-China (RIC) and Japan-America-India (JAI) trilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on June 26, will depart for the 2019 G20 Summit to be held in Osaka, Japan. The summit, scheduled to happen on June 28 and June 29, will be the 14th such gathering. Here’s all you need to know:
G20, or the Group of Twenty, is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It was founded in 1999 and has overshadowed the G7 in the last 10 years.
The group comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).
Heads-of-governments of these countries meet at the annual G20 Summit. Heads-of-states and chiefs of international organisations such as the United Nations (UN) are also extended special invitations.
Leaders from the Netherlands, Singapore, Chile, Spain and Vietnam are expected to attend the event as special invitees this year. Leaders of the African Union (AU), Caribbean Community, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation (WTO), among others, are also expected to participate.
This is the first time Japan is hosting the summit. The International Exhibition Center in Osaka will be the main venue.
There will be four key sessions at the summit – Global Economy: Trade and Investment; Innovation in Digital Economy and Artificial Intelligence; Addressing Inequalities and Realising an Inclusive Sustainable World; and Climate Change, Energy and Environment.
While PM Modi attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit earlier in June, the G20 will be the biggest multilateral event he has attended in his second term as the prime minister. It will also have his first one-on-one meetings with various world leaders in this term.
Former union minister Suresh Prabhu is India’s Sherpa at the summit. According to a PTI report, Prabhu said last week that India will be discussing issues such as energy security, financial stability, reforming multilateralism and WTO reforms.
Issues such as return of fugitive economic offenders, terrorism, portable social security schemes, disaster-resilient infrastructure and food security will also be raised by India.
Marathon meetings
The prime minister is expected to hold about 10 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit. These include meetings with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to chalk out the plan ahead of the Modi-Trump meet. Details of the meeting were immediately not known. But India’s missile defence system deal with Russia, H-1B visas, trade terrorism and import of oil from Iran were likely to be discussed during the talks.
PM Modi will also participate in the Russia-India-China (RIC) and the Japan-America-India (JAI) trilateral meetings. A meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders is also expected.
G20 summits in the past have attracted massive protests over various issues ranging from human rights to climate change. The summit in Osaka is likely to see protesters asking Japan to stop financing coal and fossil fuels. Hong Kong’s anti-extradition protests are also expected to take place.
Over 32,000 police personnel will be deployed to keep protesters from getting too close to world leaders.
