UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM INDIAN PRIME MINISTER; REVISES HEADLINE, LEDE
By Anadolu staff
NEW DELHI (AA) - India's G-20 presidency has been "inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, as world leaders continue to arrive in India to attend the G-20 summit in the capital New Delhi.
"This is the first-ever G20 Summit being hosted by India ... It is my firm belief that the New Delhi G20 Summit will chart a new path in the human-centric and inclusive development," Modi wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Modi said during the G-20 summit he will be chairing various sessions "covering a range of issues of prime concern to the world community."
At the closing ceremony on Sunday, G-20 leaders will share their collective vision for a sustainable and equitable "One Future," together like "One Family," for a healthier "One Earth," he added.
Over 15 meetings are expected to be held between Modi and leaders of various countries starting from Friday evening, the Indian government sources told Anadolu on Friday.
Modi wrote on X that he held bilateral meetings with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on Friday evening. He is also scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden later in the day.
"The meetings will give an opportunity to review India's bilateral ties with these nations and further strengthen developmental cooperation," he said.
Local news agency Press Trust of India reported that Modi will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
Heads of delegations continue to arrive in New Delhi for the summit, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said on Friday.
Among those who arrived in New Delhi are UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
As the summit kicks off on Saturday, India, the G-20 chair, said that New Delhi leaders' declaration is almost ready to be presented to the leaders attending the summit.
"New Delhi leaders' declaration is almost ready, I would not like to dwell on it. This declaration will be recommended to the leaders and the leaders will then accept it, and only after that we'll be able to talk about the actual achievements of the declaration," India's G-20 sherpa, or country representative, Amitabh Kant, said during pre-summit briefing on Friday.
He also added that the declaration, post the summit, will be a "voice" of the global south and the developing countries.
Restrictions in some parts of New Delhi have come into force ahead of the summit.
Delhi's traffic police said Friday that unauthorized vehicles will not be allowed to enter the New Delhi district, where the summit will take place.
The G-20 is an intergovernmental forum primarily concerned with economic issues, comprising the world's 20 largest economies – 19 countries and the EU. India holds the presidency of the grouping from Dec. 1, 2022 to Nov. 30, 2023.