G20 Leaders' Summit Kicks Off in New Delhi

The eighteenth G20 Leaders' Summit, taking place this year in New Delhi, India, has officially commenced with a welcoming ceremony. India took over the presidency of the G20 on December 1, 2022.

The summit will occur on September 9-10, with invitations extended to all leaders of the G20, as well as those from nine additional countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Spain, Mauritius, Nigeria, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Singapore.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the leaders and took memorable photographs with each one of them.

Subsequently, the participants engaged in the first session of the summit. The country’s prime minister appears with a new signboard, as India attends its first G20 summit under the name Bharat. It is noted that the country intends to officially change its name to Bharat, distancing itself from associations with its colonial past.

The G20 Leaders' Summit is held annually in different countries. This year, the event will take place for the eighteenth time in India under the theme “One Earth, One Family, One Future.” The main focus of the event will be on creating a sustainable world.

Notable participants include U.S. President Joe Biden, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Hasina Wazed, Argentine President Andrés Alberto Fernández, Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are absent from the summit. China will be represented by Premier Li Qiang, while Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The African Union has been officially included in the G20, representing the interests of 1.3 billion people. It comprises 54 internationally recognized states and Western Sahara. Prior to this, the only regional organization that was part of the G20 was the European Union.