Who are G20 Sherpas and what is their role in the G20 Summit?

In Indonesia last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to India’s G20 leadership as “inclusive, ambitious, and action-oriented.” The nation’s holistic view of the world is quite visible in the theme itself — “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or One Earth One Family One Future.

In the midst of global upheaval, the largest democracy in the world is keeping its promise. India is treating the presidency not only as a responsibility but as an opportunity that cannot be passed. There are over 230 meetings in more than 60 cities across the states. It is a lot of planning and execution, and playing a key role in all of this are the G20 Sherpa.

What is a Sherpa, and what role do they serve at the significant G20 Summit? Let’s look more closely.

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Who is a Sherpa?

At an international summit meeting like the G8 or G20, a sherpa is a personal envoy of the head of a member nation. The word originated from the Nepalese Sherpa ethnic group, who work as mountaineering guides in the Himalayas.

According to The Indian Express, throughout the Summit, the Sherpa works on planning, negotiating, and implementing activities. In order to help their leaders negotiate their positions, they organise the agenda, look for political consensus at the highest levels, and take part in a number of pre-Summit meetings.

G20 Sherpas are career diplomats or high-ranking government officials chosen by their nations’ presidents. Each member nation is represented by a single sherpa at each summit.

They participate in closed-door meetings, which also include representatives of international organisations and officials from guest governments. Representatives from particular working groups also participate in the meeting.

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What’s the role of a Sherpa?

Sherpas get together well in advance of the summit to resolve conflicts on numerous matters. The Leaders’ “Declaration” or “Communique,” which is the G20 Summit’s ultimate product, is prepared by the Sherpas and the Finance Track representatives towards the end of the process.

The Sherpa track engages on topics from 13 working groups ranging from energy, trade and investment, development, employment, tourism, agriculture, digital economy, health, education, culture, environment and anti-corruption, along with points from the two new groups — Disaster, Risk and Resilience Group and Startup20 Engagement Group — brought to the forefront by India under its presidency.

As part of the G20 decision-making process, Working Groups, comprising experts and officials from relevant ministries, lead in-depth analysis and discussions on a range of internationally relevant issues in respective areas of focus.

All G20 members’ finance ministers and central bank governors make up the finance track, which also has frequent meetings throughout the year to discuss topics such as international financial architecture, financial inclusion, sustainable finance, funding for infrastructure, climate finance, and tax issues.

Also read: G20 development ministers’ meeting: Who is attending, what’s being discussed?

Who is representing India at G20?

Amitabh Kant, the former CEO of NITI Aayog, has been chosen to serve as India’s new G-20 Sherpa in place of Piyush Goyal, the Minister for Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs, who was nominated to the position in September 2021.

Along with Goyal, Suresh Prabhu, Shaktikanta Das, Arvind Panagariya, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia have served as G-20 Sherpas in the past.

After leading the government research group for roughly six years, Kant finished his extended term there last month. Kant, a retired IAS officer from the 1980 batch (Kerala cadre), assumed the position of NITI Aayog CEO in 2016. He last received a one-year extension in June 2021, according to The Indian Express.

Additionally, Kant served as the head of Empowered Group-3, one of the 11 organisations the Centre established to combat the Covid-19 epidemic.

Also read: Which countries are skipping the G20 meet in Kashmir?

How many Sherpa meetings are held for the G20 summit?

The first Sherpa meeting for the 2023 G20 Summit took place in Udaipur in December 2022, and another one was conducted in Kumarakom, Kerala in March this year. According to The Times Of India, the third Sherpa meeting will be held from 9 to 16 July in the historic ruins of Hampi in Karnataka’s Vijayanagara district.

As the first formal meeting of the Sherpa track began in Udaipur, India pointed to the significance of the Global South and listed accelerated, inclusive and resilient growth and progress on Sustainable Development Goals, particularly health and education, as key priorities of the G20 Summit.

The second Sherpa meeting in Kerala focused on the crucial part that Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) plays in enhancing development outcomes and India’s experience with DPI implementation at scale over the previous ten years for the entire day, according to The Hindu. As per the press release, the Sherpas also took stock of the progress made in the various G20 Sherpa track working groups of Digital Economy, Health, Education, Tourism, Culture, Agriculture, Trade & Investment, Employment and Anti-Corruption.

Also read: G20 foreign ministers’ meeting ends: How West sparred with Russia over Ukraine war

Why is G20 important for India?

The G20 or Group of 20, comprising Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU), is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.

The G20, which unites the established and emerging economies of the globe and represents two-thirds of the world’s population and 85 per cent of the global GDP, is a significant forum for international economic cooperation.

Furthermore, India is taking over the presidency at a crucial juncture when the world is facing multiple headwinds on account of the Russia-Ukraine war, increasing crude oil prices, rising interest rates and a slowdown in global demand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for international cooperation to deal with global issues, outlining the country’s approach to the G20. He said in a statement the challenges of “climate change, terrorism, and pandemics can be solved not by fighting each other, but only by acting together.”

Experts say India could also help the global economy, particularly those of poorer nations, bounce back from COVID-19.

This is a moment for India to transition from being a “rule-taker to being a rule-maker”, said Rajiv Bhatia and Manjeet Kripalani of Indian think-tank Gateway House.

With inputs from agencies

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