Turkish President Erdogan heads to India for G-20 summit

By Diyar Guldogan

NEW DELHI (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday departed for India's capital New Delhi to attend a G-20 summit set for this Saturday and Sunday.

Term president India is hosting the two-day summit with the theme "One Earth, One Family, One Future." During the summit, G-20 leaders will exchange views in three sessions.

Erdogan is also expected to hold bilateral talks with various participating heads of state and government on the sidelines of the summit.

The summit will be held at the newly inaugurated Pragati Maidan conference center at the Bharat Mandapam culture corridor, where a statue of Nataraja – an important symbol of cosmic energy, creativity, and power –is located.

At its core, the G-20 is an intergovernmental forum primarily concerned with economic issues made up of the world’s 20 largest economies – 19 countries and the European Union. It plays an important role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues.

The member states are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the UK, and the US.

Besides the members, term president India also invited the leaders of Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Oman, Singapore, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates.

In addition to international organizations such as the UN, International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, India also invited members of the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, and the Asian Development Bank as guest international organizations.

The G-20 is also close to agreement on admitting African Union (AU), a bloc of 55 countries, as a member of the grouping.

Following the summit, the leaders are expected to adopt a declaration.