India had signalled its support for South Africa, a fellow Global South nation and BRICS partner, over its hosting of the Johannesburg Summit
New Delhi: India on Wednesday announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Johannesburg from November 21-23 to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit hosted by South Africa. During the visit, he will speak in all three sessions of the Summit. The visit comes amid an American boycott of the event due to strained ties between the United States and South Africa, as a result of which neither President Donald Trump nor any senior American representative will be attending. New Delhi also said that Modi will participate in the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Leaders’ Meeting being hosted by South Africa.
Earlier this month, India had signalled its support for South Africa, a fellow Global South nation and BRICS partner, over its hosting of the Johannesburg Summit. India, a G20 member, last hosted the Summit in New Delhi two years ago.
The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of major developed and developing economies and comprises 19 countries, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye and the United States, along with the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU). Collectively, the G20 accounts for 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the world’s population, making it the premier platform for international economic cooperation.
In a statement announcing the visit, New Delhi said, “This will be the fourth consecutive G20 Summit held in the Global South. At the Summit, the Prime Minister will put forth India’s perspectives on the G20 agenda. He is expected to speak in all three sessions of the Summit. On the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the Prime Minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg.”
The first G20 session will focus on “Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth Leaving No One Behind: building our economies; the role of trade; financing for development; and the debt burden.” The second session will take up “A Resilient World, The G20’s Contribution: Disaster Risk Reduction; Climate Change; Just Energy Transitions; Food Systems.” The concluding session will discuss “A Fair and Just Future for All: Critical Minerals; Decent Work; Artificial Intelligence.”
Relations between South Africa and the United States have deteriorated after the Trump Administration alleged official persecution of white farmers of European descent in South Africa, allegations President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied. South Africa’s strong criticism of Israel amid the Gaza conflict has also displeased Washington. According to reports, the Trump Administration even demanded South Africa’s removal from the G20 and announced that it would not send any official representation to the Johannesburg Summit.
Modi had last month skipped a visit to Kuala Lumpur for the India-ASEAN Summit and instead participated virtually on October 26. As India and the United States are yet to conclude a trade agreement, this also meant there was no bilateral meeting with President Trump, who attended the Kuala Lumpur Summit in person.
