India’s G20 Presidency Begins Today, 100 Monuments To Be Lit Up: 10 Points

India will take over the G20 presidency for a year today with a focus on counter-terrorism and “unity” in tackling global challenges, such as economic slowdown and climate crisis.

India will be hosting 200 meetings across the country during its yearlong presidency, with the first one in Udaipur later this week. The next year’s G20 Summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.

The government also seeks to build consensus on creating disaster and climate-resilient infrastructure and debt relief.

Starting today, 100 monuments across the country, including UNESCO world heritage sites, will be lit up highlighting the G20 logo for a week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the logo and the theme for India’s G20 presidency last month. The logo depicts a lotus flower and a globe, while the theme for India’s G20 presidency is -“One Earth, One Family, One Future” – which highlights its commitment to ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (world is one family).

India was handed over the presidency of the influential bloc at the closing ceremony of the previous G20 summit in Bali that was hosted by Indonesia on November 15 and 16.

During his address at the closing ceremony of the summit, PM Modi had said that India’s G-20 presidency will be “inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented”.

He said India will ensure that the G-20 acts as a “global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action” over the next one year.

The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.

The group comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union.

The member countries 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.