New Delhi [India], November 20 (ANI): The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday indicated that key issues relevant to India and the Global South will be highlighted during the 20th G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In a Special Briefing by MEA on the Prime Minister's visit to South Africa, Secretary (ER) of the Ministry of External Affairs, Sudhakar Dalela said, 'The G20 is a very important forum, and as I mentioned to you in the last 3-4 years, starting with Indonesia and followed by our own presidency, which was very successfu,l where we agreed to have consensus declaration could really pilot and take new initiative on several themes that impact Global South. We are very happy that these discussions have carried forward under the presidency of Brazil and, of course, in South Africa under four verticles that South Africa has outlined for their own presidency. A number of achievements have been made throughout the year across various tracks in these areas. So we are very happy that the issues of importance to the Global South are at the centre of discussion and are being highlighted,' he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the 20th G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, from November 21 to 23, marking a significant milestone as the first G20 summit held on the African continent. This will be PM Modi's fourth official visit to South Africa, following his bilateral visit in 2016 and his attendance at the two BRICS summits in 2018 and 2023.

This summit is the fourth consecutive G20 meeting hosted by the Global South, following Indonesia, India, and Brazil's presidencies. Prior to South Africa, the G20 presidencies were held by Brazil (2024), India (2023) and Indonesia (2022).

The G20, comprising major economies representing 85% of global GDP and 75% of international trade, has identified priority areas under South Africa's presidency theme of 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability'.

Regarding the bilateral meetings to be held on the sidelines of the G20, Dalela said they are in the process of organising them.

'Regarding the bilateral meetings for the summit of this level and this importance, this provides a very valuable opportunity for leaders to interact and meet with other world leaders. So yes, there will be bilateral meetings with world leaders who will be participating in the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg. We are working out the details of these bilateral meetings as we speak,' he said.

He added that India and South Africa are democracies and that their cooperation has three pillars, one of which is political cooperation. The African Union, which became a permanent member of the G20 during India's 2023 presidency, will play a key role in shaping the summit's agenda.

'As all of you know, India, well, South Africa are three democracies from three continents, all from the Global South. We have a very unique forum for coordinating among ourselves around three pillars of cooperation. I would say one is the political coordination,' he said.

PM Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with other leaders and participate in the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Leaders' Meeting.

'The second is trilateral cooperation that we do, including people-to-people contact and thirdly, what we do collectively as IBSA for countries in the Global South, particularly on the aspect of food and hunger through the IBSA fund. So this will be a meeting, although it is a meeting happening on the sidelines of the summit, it'll be a short meeting, but I'm confident that the world's three leaders will be reviewing what we have been following up under these three pillars of cooperation in recent times,' he added.

'I would also like to say that only in September this year, on the margins of UNGA New York, the IBSA foreign ministers had also met and issued a statement on some of the themes that we keep discussing among ourselves as like-minded countries. So that is what we expect in the IPSA meeting, but again I would not prejudge what final leaders will discuss and decide,' he added.

On reports suggesting that US President Donald Trump won't be attending the Summit, Dalela said, 'On the question about US participation, I would like to comment on our own participation at the G20 leader summit. All of you are aware of the media debate and the public information available about the participation of various G20 members. So that is not for me to comment,' he said.

Notably, US President Donald Trump has announced that no US government official will participate in the G20 summit, citing human rights violations in South Africa. In response, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that the US absence is 'their loss' and that Pretoria will proceed with the summit regardless. (ANI)