Commerce minister Piyush Goyal says ministry preparing for PM Modi’s visit to Italy for G20 summit

The minister also said that a large number of multilateral and bilateral visits were also held with emerging economies to highlight India's stand.

Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that the ministry is working with the member nations of the G20 (group of 20) to prepare for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Rome, Italy, to attend the 16th G20 leaders’ summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Rome, Italy, between October 29 and 31 to attend the G20 leaders’ summit. (ANI)

Goyal also said that several meetings have been held with the representatives of emerging economies before the G20 summit. “Large number of multilateral and bilateral meetings held with emerging economies, EU, UK, Germany, France etc to highlight India’s stand,” he said.

Further, the minister also said that the next round of the G20 Sherpa meeting has been scheduled to be held from October 28 to 30, as part of the preparations for the leaders summit.

On Thursday evening, Modi said that he would travel to Rome between October 29 and 31 to attend the G20 leaders’ summit, the first in-person meeting after the pandemic. Several issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change would be discussed during the meeting. The leaders’ summit is scheduled for October 30 and 31, according to the G20 website.

“In Rome, I will attend the 16th G20 Leaders’ Summit, where I will join other G20 Leaders in discussions on global economic and health recovery from the pandemic, sustainable development, and climate change. This will be the first in-person Summit of the G20 since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 and will allow us to take stock of the current global situation and exchange ideas on how the G20 can be an engine for strengthening economic resilience and building back inclusively and sustainably from the pandemic,” Modi said in a statement.

Also, the PM would visit Pope Francis in Vatican City and is also slated to hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of several countries on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

Goyal was appointed as India’s Sherpa to the G20 earlier in September, the ministry of external affairs had announced. He attended the two-day long G20 Sherpas’ meeting earlier on September 15 and 16 in virtual format, his first G20 meeting after the appointment.