PM to visit Johannesburg on 21-23 November for G20 Summit

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Johannesburg in South Africa for the 20th G20 Leaders’ Summit on 21-23 November. The summit is being hosted by the Republic of South Africa this year. This is the first time that an African nation is hosting the G20 summit.

Modi, as per the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), will be speaking in all three sessions of the summit, where he will be putting forth India's perspective on the G20 agenda.

"Prime Minister will also be participating in the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Leaders’ Meeting being hosted by South Africa," the MEA said in a press release.

What are the three sessions on? What is the G20 2025 theme?

The three sessions scheduled for the G20 Summit in Johannesburg will be on:

i. Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth Leaving No One Behind : Building our economies; the role of trade; financing for development and the debt burden.

ii. A Resilient World – the G20’s Contribution: Disaster Risk Reduction; Climate Change; Just Energy Transitions; Food Systems.

iii. A Fair and a Just Future for All: Critical Minerals; Decent Work; Artificial Intelligence.

The G20 2025 theme is ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability’.

This will be the fourth consecutive G20 summit to be hosted by a national in the Global South.

The 2022 summit was held in Nusa Dua, Bali in Indonesia, in 2023 in New Delhi, India, and in 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The G20 countries

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States and two regional bodies, namely the European Union and the African Union.

US has boycotted the summit

The summit comes in the wake of tensions between the United States and South Africa. Washington, which has boycotted the summit, has warned Pretoria against issuing a joint statement, as per a Bloomberg report.

In May this year, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was publicly reprimanded by US President Donald Trump at the White House when the latter falsely accused him of genocide against White Afrikaners as well as expropriating land.

South Africa's foreign ministry spokesperson told Bloomberg, “Washington’s absence negates it role over the G20’s conclusions,” adding, “We cannot allow coercion by absence to become a viable tactic. It is a recipe for institutional paralysis and the breakdown of collective action.”