India officially assumes G20 Presidency, monuments illuminated with G20 logo

India officially assumes the presidency of the G-20 grouping, the premier forum for international economic cooperations. As India formally assumed the G20 presidency on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the key element of it would be taking G20 closer to the public and making it truly a people’s G20.

“It is a memorable day. We’ve formally assumed the presidency today. A key element of our presidency will be taking G20 closer to the public and trying to make our presidency truly a people’s G20. We will look for Jan Bhagidari events throughout the year,” the official spokesperson of MEA, Arindam Bagchi said.

To commemorate the occasion, 100 monuments including the UNESCO world heritage sites bearing the G20 logo have begun to illuminate and will continue for seven days starting from 1 December to 7 December. Srinagar’s Shankaracharya temple to Delhi’s Red Fort to Thanjavur’s Great living Chola temple. Humayun’s Tomb and Purana Quila in Delhi to Modhera Sun Temple in Gujarat, and Konark Sun Temple in Odisha to Sher Shah Suri’s Tomb in Bihar, are in the list of these 100 sites.

India began its presidency journey with the “University Connect” programme which virtually brought together students from 75 universities across the country. The External Affairs Minister along with the Principal Secretary of Prime Minister were among the distinguished speakers. 

On this historic day when India has acquired the presidency, Sudarsan Pattnaik created a sand art with the G20 India logo and the Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam theme “One Earth, One Family.”

The G-20 was founded back in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis as a forum for Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to discuss global economic and financial issues.
The Group of Twenty (G-20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States) and the European Union. The G-20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.