The much-awaited 18th G20 Leaders' Summit will begin today at the sprawling Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi's Pragati Maidan. The national capital welcomed world leaders such as US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida among others, for the two-day summit.
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Over 14 heads of international organisations, too, have been invited. Along with the summit, there will be bilateral meetings and press conferences.
India is hosting the annual summit of the G20 for the first time, and has pulled out all the stops in rolling out a grand welcome to the leaders and making the summit a success. Delhi has also undergone a major makeover.
However, it remains to be seen whether there will be a joint leaders' declaration in view of the sharp differences between the west and the Russia-China combine on the text to describe the Ukraine conflict in the document. The silver lining for India's presidency is likely to be the support by almost all G20 countries to its proposal to include the African Union as a permanent member of the bloc.
Here's the detailed schedule of G20 Summit 2023:
September 9
9:30am to 10:30am:
Arrival of leaders and heads of delegations at the summit venue, Bharat Mandapam, followed by a welcome photograph with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Tree of Life Foyer. Subsequently, leaders and heads of delegation assemble in Leaders' Lounge, Level 2 at Bharat Mandapam.
10:30am to 1:30pm:
The first session, called 'One Earth,' will take place at the Summit Hall at Bharat Mandapam, followed by a working lunch.
1:30pm to 3:30pm:
Bilateral meetings will be held.
3:30pm to 4:45pm:
The second session, 'One Family,' will take place in the summit venue after which the leaders return to their hotels.
7pm to 8pm:
Arrival of leaders and heads of delegation for dinner, beginning with a welcome photograph on arrival.
8pm to 9pm:
Dinner.
9pm to 9:45pm:
Leaders and heads of delegation will assemble in the Leaders' Lounge at Bharat Mandapam to bring the day to a close.
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September 10
8:15am to 9am:
Arrival of leaders and heads of delegations in their individual motorcades at Rajghat and a signing of the peace wall inside the Leaders' Lounge at Rajghat.
9am to 9:20am:
World leaders to lay wreaths at Mahatma Gandhi's Samadhi followed by a live performance of Mahatma Gandhi's favourite devotional songs. Subsequently, leaders and heads of delegations will move to the Bharat Mandapam's Leaders' Lounge.
9:40am to 10:15am:
Arrival of leaders and heads of delegation at Bharat Mandapam.
10:15am -10:30am:
Tree planting ceremony at Bharat Mandapam's South Plaza.
10:30am to 12:30pm: The third session of the summit, called 'One Future', followed by the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration.
