India will organise G20 events at different levels across country during its presidency

During its presidency of G20 or Group of Twenty, India will hold a large number of G20 events at different levels across the country, said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi at a weekly media briefing.

He said that before the G20 summit a large number of meetings take place -- like ministerial meetings, working group meetings and special initiatives- that every nation might do at various levels. 

"India will assume the presidency of G20 in December 2022. Apart from the Summit which we will hold next year whose dates are yet not finalized, a large number of G20 events at different levels will be organized across the country during our presidency. There is no need to speculate at this stage on these things," Bagchi said while answering a query related to a proposal to hold some G20 meetings in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The G20 Summit is preceded by a large number of meetings -- like ministerial meetings, working group meetings, engagement group, contact meetings and special initiatives that each country might do at various levels -- these are different events, some are governmental, some are non-governmental. If you look at previous years, there are formats and each country innovates and puts its own ideas, and initials. All these will be made public and shared with you as we get closer to the presidency," he said.

Earlier, reports suggested that Pakistan has raised objections against India's decision to hold G20 meetings in Kashmir and has reached out to its allies like China and Turkey to boycott meeting in the union territory.

Since the inception of the G20 in 1999, India has been a member of the intergovernmental forum. India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 leaders' Summit next year for the first time.

What is G20?

G20 comprises 19 countries and the European Union (EU). The forum works to address issues related to the global economy and sustainable development.

The member nations are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.