The 18th summit of the Group of Twenty "G-20" kicked off this morning in the Indian capital, New Delhi, under the slogan "One Earth, One Family, One Future".
The G20 leaders, in the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, are scheduled to exchange views in 3 sessions, hoping to make progress on trade, climate and other global issues.
On the first day, the leaders will attend the "One Earth" and "One Family" sessions, while on the second day, they will lay wreaths at the tomb of the global Indian icon "Mahatma Gandhi" in New Delhi before attending the tree planting ceremony.
After the third session titled "One Future", the conferees are expected to adopt the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration, a commitment to the priorities discussed and agreed upon during the respective ministerial meetings and working groups.
This summit also comes as the G-20 approaches an agreement on accepting the African Union, a bloc of 55 countries, as a member of the group.
The Group of Twenty, in essence, is an intergovernmental forum concerned primarily with economic issues, and it consists of the 20 largest economies in the world, representing 19 countries in addition to the European Union.
The G20 plays an important role in shaping and strengthening the global architecture and governance of all major international economic issues.
The G20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Besides the member states, India also invited to the summit the leaders of Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Oman, Singapore, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency