India Assumes G20 Presidency: Here's What It Means and How It Is Decided

PM Modi said that during the G20 presidency, India's agenda will be 'inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented'.

India Assumes G20 Presidency

Source : PTI

India will take charge of the G20 presidency from December 1 this year for one-and-a-half years. On Wednesday, in the closing ceremony of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesian President Joko Widodo handed over the presidency baton to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi said that during the G20 presidency, India's agenda will be "inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented".

During the presidency, India will host over 200 meetings in 32 different sectors in multiple locations across the nation that aim to secure global economic growth and prosperity. The G20 members together represent more than 80% of the world GDP, 75% of international trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. 

The next G20 Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi.

Here are some of the responsibilities of the G20 presidency-

• The G20 presidency for a year sets the agenda of the meeting and hosts the summit. 
• Apart from steering the agenda, the presidency doesn't have any formal power. But India with its influence over the G20 agenda can turn the discussion of the meeting in the direction it prefers.
• Former Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla has been appointed as India's Chief G20 Coordinator at the secretary level. He will be responsible for the implementation of overall policy decisions at the summit.
• The issues and commitments adopted at the summit are prepared and followed up by the established Sherpa (personal emissaries of the leaders) and Finance tracts (led by finance ministers and central bank governors). 
• Former IAS officer Amitabh Kant, who headed the NITI Ayog for six years, will be India's G20 Sherpa for the next year.
• According to Kant, under India's leadership, G20 members will focus on global challenges like a slowing global economy, a debt crisis, the threatening impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis.
• Another agenda will be to bring reforms in organisations like the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank to better align them with the needs of developing nations.
• Modi said India’s presidency will be grounded in the theme “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth One Family One Future”, and will focus on equitable growth and a shared future for all.

How the presidency is chosen?

Each year in December, a different member country assumes the presidency of the G20 Group.

Since the G20 has no permanent secretariat, the presidency is chosen through rotation. The 20 member states of the G20, excluding the European Union, which is not part of a country group, are divided into five groups- 

• Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the United States

• India, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey

• France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom

• China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea

• Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico

Nation states from the same region are usually placed in the same group, except for the two country groups- group 1 (Australia, Canada, the USA and Saudi Arabia) and group 2 (India, Russia, South Africa and Turkey). 

Every year, one of the five groups gets its turn to elect the president after negotiations. All countries in the group are eligible to take over the G20 Presidency when it is their group's turn so the states within the relevant group need to negotiate among themselves to select the next G20 President.