During G20 presidency, India to invite Bangladesh as guest country

India, which will assume the one-year presidency of the G20  or Group of 20 in December, will invite Bangladesh as a guest country to take part in meetings of the group. Besides Bangladesh, other countries such as Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE are also on the list of guest countries for India.

The move is expected to deepen India’s bilateral ties with these countries.

In addition to G20 Members, the G20 Presidency can invite a few guest countries and international organizations (IOs) to the group’s G20 meetings and summit.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be also be invited under the IO category. The United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Health Organisation, World Trade Organisation, and the International Labour Organisation are already part of the G20 network.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs India is expected to host over 200 G20 meetings across the country in the one year period. The G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of heads of states or government is scheduled to be held on 9 and 10 September next year in New Delhi.

The G20, an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies, comprises the European Union and 19 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and the US.

Collectively, the G20 group accounts for 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the world population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation. New Delhi is currently part of the G20 Troika (current, previous and incoming G20 Presidencies) comprising Indonesia, Italy besides India. “During our Presidency, India, Indonesia and Brazil would form the troika. This would be the first time when the troika would consist of three developing countries and emerging economies, providing them a greater voice,” the statement said.

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