INDIA Set a New Standard for G20

On 10 September 2023, the three-day G20 Summit in New Delhi ended on a high note as Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Brazil the rotational Presidency. At the summit, the World leaders, under the theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future”, discussed various themes like climate and energy, food security, development, digitalization and health.

While many nations predicted that the G20 summit in India would fail, India has proved all those critics wrong. US State Department official spokesperson Matthew Miller lauded India, calling it a success.

While addressing the 104th episode of the monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted two world records that were created in the course of strengthening public participation in G20. One was the participation of 1.25 lakh students from 800 schools in the G20 quiz in Varanasi, the other was the planning of 200 G-20-related events in 60 cities across the country.

Before we dig deeper into how the G20 summit in India was successful, we first need to understand the history associated with it.

THE GENESIS OF THE G20

The G20, also known as The Group of Twenty, was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98. It was then a forum for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to discuss global economic and financial issues. The heads of State participated in the forum for international economic cooperation.

The first G-20 Summit took place in 2008 in Washington D.C., the United States to discuss financial markets and the world economy. The follow-up meeting happened in 2009 in London, the United Kingdom where countries reached a consensus to blacklist those countries that refused to cooperate in addressing tax evasion and avoidance. The third meeting, which took place in the same year in Pittsburgh established G20 as a major decision-making body on matters relating to the world economy.