India has decided to invite friendly neighbours for one of the critical G20 meetings to be held in March in Hyderabad, but Pakistan is not likely to make the cut. New Delhi will invite friendly neighbours for the ‘Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion’ at a time when many of the country’s neighbours are staring at unprecedented financial crises.
Sources told India Today that there is a side event being planned, and that most of the friends in the neighbourhood would be part of the meeting. “We want to bring in other countries that can benefit from a G20 event,” said the source.
When asked if Pakistan would be invited, India Today was told that only friendly neighbours would be invited.
It must be mentioned that three of India’s neighbours – Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan – are reeling under the worst economic crises and have been waiting for bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Even if Pakistan is not part of the G20 event, it will certainly be among the participants in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meetings.
India Today also learned that countries who are invited for the G20 and are not member states could also come with their own agenda. While India would have no preconditions, G20 meetings by themselves have a set agenda. “But, they can also have a say on issues that impact them. For example, Bangladesh will be there and they might want to discuss debt restructuring, etc,” said a source.
The broad priorities of the G20 include fuel and food prices going up, COVID-19, climate change and more.
So far, India has held G20 meetings at Working Group (WG) level, Engagement Group (EG), Sherpa-level in various cities which include, 27 meetings is 16 states and UTs, one Sherpa meeting in Udaipur, 16 Working Group (WG) meetings, nine Engagement Group (EG) meetings. India is expected to accrue around Rs 850 crore in revenue through the G20 events given the huge delegations that would travel to India, which would involve travelling, accommodation, tourism and shopping.