G20 Summit 2023 Highlights: India is ‘right country’ at ‘right time’ to hold G20 presidency, says UK PM Rishi Sunak

The India Meteorological Department has installed an additional automatic weather station near Pragati Maidan -- the G20 Summit venue -- to provide specialised and real-time weather forecasts in view of the high-level event, PTI reported.

The India Meteorological Department's (IMD) round-the-clock weather monitoring for the summit will begin on Thursday morning.

The weather office will issue tailored weather updates and forecasts and these will be accessible through a dedicated webpage on the IMD website at mausam.imd.gov.in/g20.

The webpage will provide real-time data from the newly deployed automatic weather station (AWS) near the G20 Summit venue, offering precise information on air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and rainfall.

The data will be updated at 15-minute intervals, ensuring that users have the most accurate and up-to-date weather information at their fingertips, the IMD said.

Similar information will be available for nine other key locations across Delhi -- the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi railway station, Chandni Chowk, Akshardham Temple, Bahai/Lotus Temple, Qutab Minar, Red Fort/Rajghat, Delhi University and Lodhi Road (Lodhi Garden).

A thousand police personnel have been deployed for the security of delegates arriving for the G20 Summit at the Hindon Airport in this Uttar Pradesh district, PTI reported citing a senior official.

Personnel will also be deployed on rooftops of high-rise buildings adjoining the airport and residents of nearby villages have been asked to avoid terraces during the movement of delegates, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Trans Hindon) Shubham Patel told PTI.

He added that personnel have also been deployed on rooftops in these areas. A thousand personnel from the civil and the traffic police have been deployed to look after the security of foreign delegates from the airport to the border with Delhi.

Flag marches, enhanced patrolling and picket checking are among the measures taken by the Delhi Police to maintain law and order in the national capital for the G20 Summit, officials said on Wednesday.

A senior police officer said they are conducting flag marches in their district every day.

"Picket checking has been increased in the area and communication is being established with locals to give them a sense of confidence. Traffic arrangements have been put in place. The areas near Yamuna Khadar are being checked regularly. Mounted morchas have also been pressed into service," the officer said.

Apart from the local police, paramilitary personnel are also conducting flag marches.

The forces continue to remain on high alert to thwart any untoward incident. The police have intensified patrolling and deployed extra pickets at vital installations, the officials said.

Delhi airport will have dedicated gates and a dedicated corridor to ensure seamless immigration clearance for G20 delegates, and a team of senior officials will monitor arrival and departure operations related to the summit.

Delhi airport operator DIAL on Wednesday said there are a required number of parking slots for VVIP aircraft, and that most of the guests for the summit will be coming by chartered flights or special VIP flights.

"While many of the guests will be arriving at Air Force Station on the Palam side, there are many other heads of states as well as other delegation members who are going to come at Terminal-3. We have made special arrangements for them," DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said in a message.

There will be dedicated gates and a dedicated corridor for the G20 delegates so that they can clear the immigration and customs in a seamless manner, he added.

India's diversity and its extraordinary successes means it is the "right country" at the "right time" to hold the G20 presidency, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday, as he hailed Narendra Modi’s leadership over the last year, noting that India’s presidency of the bloc came when the world is facing innumerable challenges, reported PTI.

The British prime minister said the relationship between the UK and India will define the future of the two countries, even more than it is defining the present.

"This country's scale, diversity and its extraordinary successes means India is the right country at the right time to hold the G20 Presidency. I pay tribute to Prime Minister Modi's leadership over the last year and it’s wonderful to see India showing such global leadership," he said.

"We will also work closely with India through their Presidency of the G20 to address the biggest challenges the world is facing, from stabilising the global economy to dealing with climate change," Sunak added.

Ahead of the G20 Summit, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Wednesday announced that from September 8-10, train services will begin at 4 am.

“For the upcoming G-20 Summit to be held in Delhi on 9th and 10th September 2023, the Delhi Metro train services will start from 04:00 AM from terminal stations of all Lines for three days that is from 8th to 10th September 2023,” DMRC said in a statement.

The metro trains will run with a frequency of 30 minutes on all lines till 6 am and after 6 am, metro trains will run as per the normal timetable throughout the day on all lines.

"All Metro stations will remain open for the general public during this period (September 8-10) except Supreme Court Metro Station where no boarding/deboarding of passengers will be allowed on September 9-10 due to security constraints," said Anuj Dayal, Principal Executive Director, Corporate Communications, DMRC.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will land in India later this week for the G20 World Leaders’ Summit and can expect a grand welcome from his relatives in New Delhi, according to a UK media report.

‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported over the weekend that Sunak’s relatives will host a feast with flower bouquets and “non-stop dancing” to Punjabi music.

Dr Gautam Dev Sood, 65, a maternal uncle of the UK Prime Minister of Punjabi heritage, said all relatives have been asked to come to the Indian capital to mark his arrival.

India is likely to showcase the country's digital public goods to the world and its ‘Digital India’ initiative, the central government has decided to provide hands-on experiences to around 1,000 visiting foreign delegates with UPI wallets technology.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is India’s mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer.

"Foreign delegates or participants will be given ₹500-1,000 in their UPI wallets for doing UPI transactions,” a government official told news agency ANI, adding it has earmarked around ₹10 lakhs for it.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will meet Nigerian President Bola Tinubu here on Wednesday ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi.

Nigerian President Tinubu is the first head of state to arrive in the national capital for the G20 summit scheduled to be held on September 9, 10. It is also Tinubu’s first visit to India since the assumption of office in May 2023.

According to an official statement released earlier by Nigeria, Tinbu will participate in and deliver keynote addresses at both the Nigeria-India Presidential Roundtable and the Nigeria-India Business Conference on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

In order to avert any waterlogging or flood related situation during the G20 summit, four heavy-duty mobile de-watering trucks, borrowed from Ahmedabad have been deployed at ITPO and Raj Ghat areas.

China’s foreign ministry has announced that Premier Li Qiang, not President Xi Jinping, will represent China at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. The move has been seen by some analysts as a snub aimed at India, especially since the Chinese President did attend the BRICS Summit in South Africa just weeks ago

Global leaders are likely to discuss green hydrogen during the G20 Summit. The India-led International Solar Alliance launched the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre earlier this year, and India itself approved $2.3 billion for the production, use, and export of green hydrogen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday shared images of the Nataraja statue made of Ashtadhatu. The 27-foot-tall, 18-ton-weight statue has been installed at the Bharat Mandapam--Venue of the G20 Summit. The statue was sculpted by the renowned sculptor Radhakrishnan Sthapaty of Swami Malai in Tamil Nadu and his team in a record 7 months.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advised all the ministers to download the G20 India mobile app ahead of the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi this week. The Ministry of External Affairs in India launched the mobile application titled 'G20 India' on Tuesday. The app will function till India’s G20 presidency. According to officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, more than 15000 mobile apps were downloaded globally till Tuesday. The G20 India mobile app will help the delegates interact with foreign delegates in all G20 countries' languages.

Delhi Metro train services will start from 4 AM from terminal stations of all Lines for three days (from 8th to 10th September). All Metro stations will remain open for the general public during this period except Supreme Court Metro Station where no boarding/deboarding of passengers will be allowed on 9th and 10th September.

After Air India, IndiGo has announced one-time waivers for passengers traveling to and from Delhi between 8 to 11 September. Customers are being offered the option of rescheduling or cancelling their flights with refunds. “Passengers have been notified about flight cancellations and to schedule changes in advance,” the airline said in a media statement.

The discussions of the G20 countries have broadened in recent years. The issues are not confined to economics but also include climate change, sustainable energy, international-debt forgiveness and taxing MNCs.

• Founded in 1999, G20 stands for Group of Twenty. It is a club of 19 countries and the European Union which meets to discuss plans for the global economy. The G20 countries contain two-thirds of the global population.
• The members are the European Union and 19 nations - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. Spain is always invited as a guest.
• A smaller group of G20 countries is called G7.
• The first leaders' meeting happened in 2008.

Delhi Police Commissioner, Sanjay Arora, has written a letter to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Managing Director, Vikas Kumar, requesting him to start Metro services in the national capital from 4:00 am on September 8, 9 and 10.