India to invite UAE as G20 guest

India, the incoming President of the Group of Twenty, has said it will invite the UAE as one of the guest countries to the G-20 summit being held in New Delhi next September.

It's the first in a series of announcements being made by India ahead of assuming the 12 month G-20 Presidency on December 1.

India said it will also be inviting Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, and Spain as guests.

India will also invite the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Asian Development Bank as guest international organisations.

"In addition to G-20 members, there has been a tradition of the G-20 Presidency inviting some guest countries and international organisations to its G-20 meetings and Summit," India’s Ministry of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said. "Under its Presidency, India is expected to host over 200 meetings related to G-20 across the country, beginning December 2022."

Collectively, the G-20 accounts for 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the world population, making it "the premier forum for international economic cooperation."

The New Delhi Summit will be a major international event in the next calendar year. In addition to 20 of the Group’s members, nine Guest countries of its choice and three international organisations, the Indian Presidency hopes to have at the Summit the following regular invitees.

These are the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, the World Trade Organisation, the International Labour Organisation, the Financial Stability Board and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development plus the Chairs of three regional organisations: African Union, the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa's Development and the Association of South East Asian Nations.