External affairs minister S Jaishankar reaches Varanasi to host G20 development ministers' meeting

VARANASI: External affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar reached Varanasi on Saturday to chair the three-day G20 development ministers’ meeting under the Indian presidency scheduled to be held between June 11 and 13.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a special video address at the beginning of the meeting on Monday while chief minister Yogi Adityanath will host a dinner for the development ministers and other delegates of G20 member countries and other invited nations at Taj Hotel on Sunday evening.
District magistrate S Rajalingam told TOI, “The EAM had already reached the city while CM would arrive on Sunday morning. After welcoming the participants of G20 meet the guests would be taken on a cruise to see Ganga aarti on Sunday evening. After it, the dinner hosted by CM on behalf UP government will take place in the presence of EAM”.
According to ministry of estarnal affairs, Government of India press release, Varanasi development ministers’ meeting takes place amidst mounting developmental challenges that have been further aggravated by economic slowdown, debt distress, impacts of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, growing poverty and inequality, food and energy insecurity, cost-of-living crisis, global supply-chain disruptions, and geo-political conflicts and tensions.
The G20 development ministerial meeting will be an opportunity to collectively agree on actions for accelerating the achievement of the SDGs and foster synergies between the development, environment and climate agendas while avoiding costly trade-offs that hold back progress for the developing countries.
The meeting follows the voice of the Global South Summit that was hosted by India in January 2023, and the decisions taken at the Varanasi meeting will also contribute to the United Nations SDG Summit which will take place in September in New York.
The meeting will consist of two main sessions, one on “Multilateralism: Collective Actions for Accelerating Progress towards SDGs” and another on “Green Development: A LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) Approach”.
The development ministers’ meeting was preceded by the fourth and final Development Working Group (DWG) Meeting, which was held in Delhi from June 6-9.
The DWG, while building on the crucial work done by previous G20 presidencies, has carried forward its mandate of enhancing G20's contribution to accelerating progress towards SDGs and strengthening G20 long-term vision in this regard, including by strengthening G20 efforts towards fostering sustainable, inclusive and resilient economic growth.
Cultural programmes, exhibitions and excursions have also been organised to provide the delegates a glimpse into the rich culture and traditions of Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world.
A total of 200 delegates are expected to attend the meeting.