PM Modi to attend G20 Summit in Johannesburg

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Johannesburg from November 21 to 23 to attend the 20th G20 Leaders’ Summit hosted by South Africa.

• This will be the fourth consecutive G20 Summit held in the Global South.

• The previous three summits were held in Bali (2022), New Delhi (2023), Rio de Janeiro (2024).

• At the Summit, PM Modi will put forth India’s perspectives on the G20 agenda. 

• He is expected to speak in all three sessions of the Summit. 

• On the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, PM Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg. 

• He will also be participating in the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Leaders’ Meeting being hosted by South Africa.

What is G20?

• The G20 or Group of 20 is an inter-governmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.

• It is the international forum that brings together the world’s major economies.

• The members of G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UK, the US, the European Union (EU) and the African Union. 

• The African Union was included as a permanent member of G20. It was announced in the G20 Summit in New Delhi in 2023.

• India has been a member of the G20 since its inception in 1999. 

• The G20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

• South Africa’s G20 presidency commenced in December 2024. The year-long deliberations will culminate in a G20 Leaders Summit in November 2025.

Genesis of G20

• After the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-1998, it was acknowledged that the participation of major emerging market countries is needed in discussions on the international financial system, and G-8 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 toward 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.

• Since then, finance ministers and central bank governors have met annually. 

• India hosted a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in 2002.

• In November 2008, the inaugural G20 Summit was held in Washington, D.C. 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 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 semi-annually until 2010 and annually from 2011 onwards.