As part of the initiative 100 monuments, including some UNESCO World Heritage Sites, were illuminated with people participating in selfie campaigns…reports Asian Lite News
The major element of India’s G20 presidency has been taking G20 closer to the public and making it truly a people’s G20.
He added that students’ interests serve us well in our efforts to engage youth in G20 activities. We are also involving students in special G20 sessions held in various schools.
“The interests of students bodes well for our efforts at engaging the youth in G20 activities. We are also involving school students through special G20 sessions in various schools,” the MEA had said.
As part of the initiative 100 monuments, including some UNESCO World Heritage Sites, were illuminated with people participating in selfie campaigns.
Notably, G20 brings together all 20 major economies of the world representing 85 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and 2/3rd of the world’s population. In addition, participants in the group include major international organizations like the UN, the WTO, WHO, World Bank, IMF, ILO, ASEAN, the African Union, the International Solar Alliance, CDRI, etc.
During the G20 Presidency, India held about 200 meetings in 32 different sectors in multiple locations across India. The G20 Summit to be held next month is one of the highest-profile international gatherings to be hosted by India.
As India took over G20 Presidency for the year 2023 from Indonesia, all eyes were set on India as New Delhi set the agenda that would create an environment of better cooperation between the global south and advanced nations as it stands non-partisan and enjoys the trust of both.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India has made the G20 forum more inclusive under its presidency while citing the example of the 55-member African Union, which joined the group at New Delhi’s invitation.
India assumed the G20 presidency from Indonesia on December 1, 2022.
Speaking during the 104th episode of his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat, the Prime Minister urged all the people to make the G20 summit in Delhi a success and “bring glory to the country”.
“The month of September is going to witness the potential of India. We are fully prepared for the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Heads of 40 countries and many global organisations will be coming to Delhi to participate in this event. This will be the biggest participation in the history of the G20 summit,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister described India’s G20 presidency as a “people’s presidency”, wherein the spirit of public participation was critical and at the forefront. He cited the contributions of women, entrepreneurs, parliamentarians, youth, civil society groups and people associated with urban administration.
He said two world records were created in the course of strengthening public participation. One was the participation of 1.25 lakh students from 800 schools in the G20 quiz in Varanasi, which became a world record, PM Modi said.
“At the same time, 450 Lambani artisans showcased their skills and craftsmanship by creating an amazing collection of around 1,800 unique patches,” he added.
G20 leaders will visit Rajghat
Leaders attending the G20 Summit here next month will visit Rajghat and pay respect to Mahatma Gandhi, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Muktesh K Pardeshi, Special Secretary, G20 Operations told ANI in an exclusive interview that there will be three sessions during the summit and there will be a symbolic tree plantation event at the Bharat Mandapam with tree saplings representing different countries.
G20 Summit, to be held in Delhi on September 9 and 10, is the highest-level meeting at the level of head of state or head of government of the forum.
“We are having almost 230 meetings and as I speak today, almost 200 meetings at the functional level, at the senior officials’ level have already taken place. We are proceeding towards the culmination of the G20 process which started on December 1 last year. We’ll have high-level delegations led by the leaders coming to Delhi,” he said.
The senior official said they are giving final shape to the arrangements. He said that they have formed a large number of teams who will look after the entire range of operations, including the arrival of leaders at the airport, their bilateral meetings, hospitality and food.
“We are gearing up, the planning is at the final stage. We are giving final shape to the programme and different arrangements including traffic management, the hospitality arrangement, who would be doing what. We have created a large number of teams, small but effective teams and these teams are looking after the entire range of operations, including from arrival at the airport to looking after delegations’ requirements, their bilateral meetings, what kind of hospitality, food, etc will be provided. So the G20 Secretariat is here to provide end-to-end organizational support to all visiting delegations,” he said.
The senior official said that India will hand over the G20 Presidency to Brazil in the concluding session on September 10.
“There’ll be three sessions and the sessions will be around the theme of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which in English is like One earth, One family and One Future. The leaders are allocated a certain time to speak about their country position. On September 10, in the concluding session, there’ll be symbolic handing over of Presidency to the incoming Presidency which will be led by Brazil,” he said.
“In between leaders get some time and opportunity to interact with each other, what we call a bilateral meeting. That’s the responsibility of the host country to provide meeting space and logistical support so that leaders can meet. Some of them will also have bilateral meetings with our Prime Minister. There are some ceremonial aspects and one of them is to visit and pay respect to the Father of the Nation. So leaders will be visiting Rajghat and that’s a part of the ceremonial aspect. Usually any visiting head of state or government, they invariably go to Rajghat,” he added.
The senior official said saplings to be planted at Bharat Mandapam would be national trees or native trees or trees that reflect the nature and the other cultural aspects of the countries.
“There will be a symbolic tree plantation event done at the Bharat Mandapam. These tree saplings represent different countries so they are either national trees or native trees or trees which reflect the nature and the other cultural aspects of the countries or organization. So that will happen at Bharat Mandapam,” he said.
Pardeshi said there will be a gala dinner on September 9 which will also include a cultural programme. (ANI)
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