G20 Summit: Who is attending, who is skipping the event? Details

The G20 Summit, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, will be attended by several world leaders, who are a part of the grouping. This year will be the 18th G20 Summit and India’s first in terms of presidency.

The theme of this year’s G20 is “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth, One Family, One Future”.

Preparations for the upcoming G20 Summit in the national capital are in full swing. In view of the event, all central government offices, banks and financial institutions in the national capital will be closed from September 8 to 10.

All educational institutions, and government and private offices across the city will remain shut during these three days, said the notification issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) of the Delhi government.

Founded in 1999, the Group of 20 (G20) comprises 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and US, and the European Union.

Following are the world leaders who will be attending the summit:

United States: US President Joe Biden will travel to India from September 7-10 to attend the summit. Biden along with other G20 partners will discuss joint efforts to tackle global issues including clean energy transition and combating climate change, mitigating economic and social impacts of Ukraine war and increasing the capacity of multilateral development banks including the World Bank to better fight poverty, the White House said last week.

United Kingdom: Britain Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to attend the summit. As per reports, during his visit, Sunak will also discuss the UK-India trade negotiations in a separate bilateral meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Republic of Korea: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will be attending the G20 Summit. South Korea’s ambassador to India Chang Jae Bok said earlier this month, “Our President is coming to the (G20) Summit which is being held on 9-10 September. We strongly support India’s G20 presidency this year and we hope that the Summit meeting in September will be the highlight and culmination of the G20 presidency efforts by the Indian Government.”

France: French President Emmanuel Macron will be attending the G20 Summit. Live Mint reported that Macron will be staying at Claridges hotel in New Delhi.

China: Chinese President Xi Jinping will also attend the summit. Xi is likely to stay at Taj Hotel. Reports claimed that China is likely to bring 46 vehicles.

Canada: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also confirmed his attendance at the G20 Summit. “I will be at the G20 in a week… and we will continue to make sure that the world is standing with Ukraine…” Trudeau said.

Australia: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be attending the summit from September 9 to 10. “From September 9-10, the Prime Minister will attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi,” the Australian government had said in a statement in August.

Bangladesh: Bangladesh deputy high commissioner Andalib Elias on Monday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be attending the G20 Summit. Elias said, “We are also hoping that there will also be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PM Sheikh Hasina.”

Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain his decision not to attend next month’s G20 Summit in-person. Putin said Russia will be represented at the meeting by foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, according to a statement from the external affairs ministry.

Countries that have not confirmed their attendance are:

Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina.

At least 160 flights cancelled at Delhi airport

At least 160 domestic flights to and from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport have been cancelled between September 8 and 10 owing to traffic restrictions in the Capital due to the upcoming G20 Summit, the airport operator said on Saturday.

Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which operates IGI Airport, said that it received requests from various airlines for cancellation of 80 departing and 80 arriving domestic flights during the three days in this connection. It, however, clarified that the cancellation is not due to paucity of parking space for aircraft.

There will be no impact on international flights, it added.