India doing fantastic job of chairing G20: UK Minister

Panaji/New Delhi: The UK government is looking forward to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to New Delhi in September for the G20 summit, a British minister has said. UK’s Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries, Sir John Whittingdale, who was in Goa for the G20 Tourism Ministerial meeting that concluded on June 22, also said India is doing a “fantastic job” in chairing the influential bloc.

India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022. About 200 meetings under different tracks of the bloc will be hosted across the country, culminating in the September 9-10 Summit. When asked about India’s role so far as the chair of the G20, the UK minister praised the country and also also talked about some of the global challenges that the whole of humanity faces. “I think India is doing a fantastic job.

The meetings we have had here (in Goa), have been wonderfully organised. I know some of my other colleagues in the government have been attending meetings elsewhere. And of course, we are looking forward to the visit of our prime minister to India later in the year,” Whittingdale told PTI in an interview in Goa. Sunak will be in India to attend the G20 Summit, he said. The Conservative MP representing Maldon attended the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting on June 21 that took place following the G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting from June 19-20 in Goa.

India held several bilateral meetings with various member and guest countries of the G20 on the sidelines of the two crucial tourism track events in Panaji. India’s Minister of State for Tourism S Y Naik also held a bilateral talk with Whittingdale and termed it a “good meeting”.

Asked about his experiences at the G20 Tourism Ministerial meeting in the Goan capital, Whittingdale said, “It has been amazing. Goa is doing a wonderful job in hosting the G20 (meets). We had a very constructive discussion (on June 21) about the challenges facing tourism.”