PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi reached Johannesburg on Friday evening to attend the 20th G20 Leaders’ Summit, where he said he will present India’s perspective in line with its vision of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and ‘One Earth, One Family and One Future’.
This is the first time a G20 Summit is being held in the African continent.
On the margins of the summit, the Prime Minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders including new Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi.
He will also attend the sixth IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) Summit during his visit from November 21 to 23. In his departure statement Friday, the Prime Minister said, “I will present India’s perspective at the Summit in line with our vision of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and ‘One Earth, One Family and One Future’.”
“This will be a particularly special Summit given that it would be the first G20 Summit being held in Africa. During India’s Presidency of the G20 in 2023, the African Union had become a member of the G20,” Modi said in his statement.
Development agenda priority
South Africa’s presidency is the fourth developing country presidency on a trot and has helped keep the development agenda centre stage. This is the last presidency of the current cycle. With the US taking over the role next year, kicking off the second cycle, it is important to achieve outcomes for the Global South and Africa.
The theme of this year’s G20 is ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability’, with which South Africa has carried forward the outcomes from the previous summits held in New Delhi and Rio de Janeiro, Modi said.
South Africa, which took over the G20 presidency in December 2024, continued the focus on development issues, especially those pertinent to Africa. The summit priorities are — strengthening disaster resilience and response; ensuring debt sustainability for low-income countries; mobilising finance for a just energy transition; and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth and development.
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Apart from these, there are two other areas of focus in the South African presidency. One is the review of the work of the G20 in the first cycle and the way forward, and the other is addressing the issue of high cost of capital in developing countries.
