New Delhi: The national capital is gearing up to welcome more than 25 world leaders, for the G20 Summit scheduled for September 9-10. This summit marks India’s inaugural hosting of the event since the G20 initiated summit-level meetings in response to the 2008 financial crisis.

During the summit, 18 member countries are going to be represented by their leaders, including:

1. US President Joe Biden

2. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

3. Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

4. Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez

5. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

6. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva

7. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

8. France’s President Emmanuel Macron

9. Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz

10. Indonesian President Joko Widodo

11. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

12. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

13. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol

14. Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammad Bin Salman

15. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa

16. President of the European Council Charles Michel

17. President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen

18. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

19. Chinese Premier Li Qiang

20. Mexico’s Minister of Economy Raquel Buenrostro Sanchez

While most countries will be represented by their leaders, three exceptions stand out. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s absence will be compensated by his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. Mexico’s delegation will be led by Minister of Economy Raquel Buenrostro Sanchez, as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has traditionally opted for ministerial-level representation. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will travel to Delhi for the G20 summit meeting instead of President Xi Jinping.

Since 2010, no G20 summit has seen full leader attendance. Italy 2021 summit saw a maximum, of 6 leaders skipping it. Bali 2022, post-Ukraine, had 3 leaders missing. Since 2008, 16 in-person summits and 1 virtual summit (Riyadh 2020) have been held. The Delhi summit will be the 18th G20 summit.

The leader of one country missed the summit on six occasions – 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017.  The leader of 2 countries missed it five times in 2010, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019.

Countries that never missed the G20 summit are Canada, Germany, India, Italy, S Korea, Turkey, the UK, the USA, EU. Countries that missed the G20 summit 3 times are Mexico (President absent since 2018). Similarly – 2 misses: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and Russia, 1 miss: China, France, Indonesia, Japan, S Africa, and 9 misses: Saudi Arabia.

India’s outreach extends to include leaders from several other countries, and the invited leaders include:

1. Bangladesh’s PM Sheikh Hasina

2. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi

3.  Mauritius’ PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth

4. Netherlands’ PM Mark Rutte

5. Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

6. Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong

7. Spain’s President Pedro Sanchez

8. UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed

9. Oman’s Deputy PM Sayyid Asad Bin Tariq Al Said (also serving as the personal representative for the Sultan)

10. Indonesian President (Represents ASEAN as its chair)

11. Egypt’s President (Represents the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD)

12. Azali Assoumani (Chairperson of the African Union and President of Comoros)

In total, the Delhi summit will witness the presence of 27 heads of state/government, along with three representatives at the ministerial/personal representative level.

Other pivotal figures from multilateral organizations who will also be in attendance include:

1 – WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

2 – World Bank President Ajay Banga

3 – WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus4

4 – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

5 – OECD Secretary-General Mathias Hubert Paul Cormann

6 – IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva

7 – ILO Director-General Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo

8 – ISA (International Solar Alliance) Director General Ajay Mathur

9 – CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure) Director General Amit Prothi

10- ADB (Asian Development Bank) President Masatsugu Asakawa

11 – Chair of the Financial Stability Board, Klaas Knot

In conclusion, this illustrious gathering will comprise over 40 prominent figures, including world leaders and heads of top-tier institutions, who will converge under the leadership of Indian PM Modi in his capacity as the G20’s chair. The summit promises to be a pivotal event where global leaders come together to address pressing global issues and chart a course for the future of international cooperation. DeshGujarat