New Delhi, Sept 09: President of India Droupadi Murmu will host a special dinner on the opening day of the G20 summit in New Delhi, with a total of 170 guests on the list of special invitees. The dinner will take place at Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the summit. Among those invited for the dinner are former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda, as well as various chief ministers from different states.
The G20 Summit in New Delhi commenced with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address today. The African Union joined the G20 after all member countries accepted PM Modi’s proposal to include this crucial bloc of the global south in the elite group of the world’s top economies.
“With the support of all of you, I invite the African Union to join the G20,” Modi declared, drawing thunderous applause from world leaders at the Summit. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar then escorted Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union (AU), to his seat at the G20 high table.
Leaders Invited to the G20 Special Dinner:
Apart from foreign leaders and heads of delegations, the guest list for the gala dinner includes chief ministers of all states, cabinet and state ministers, secretaries in the Central government, and other distinguished guests. Attendees will include President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with his wife Sudesh Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former President Ram Nath Kovind, and former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.
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The list of cabinet ministers attending the event includes Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Narendra Singh Tomar, S Jaishankar, Arjun Munda, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Pralhad Joshi, among others. Union ministers invited to the dinner include Narayan Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal, Virendra Kumar, Giriraj Singh, Jyotiraditya Nath Sindhiya, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Pashupati Kumar Paras, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kiran Rijiju, Rajkumar Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya, Bhupendra Yadav, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Purushotam Rupala, G Kishan Reddy, and Anurag Thakur.
Ministers of State (MoS) who are invited to the dinner include Rao Indrajeet Singh, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Shripad Yasho Naik, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Prahlad Singh Patel, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, Vijay Kumar Singh, and many others.
Other important officials and distinguished guests joining the dinner include CAG of India Girish Chandra Murmu, Lok Sabha Speaker OM Birla, NSA Ajit Doval, Delhi LG VK Saxena, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, and various dignitaries.
Notable Absences at the G20 Special Dinner:
While the guest list is extensive and includes leaders from various states and government officials, leaders from other political parties have not been invited to the special dinner. The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, is among those not invited. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, addressing a press conference in Brussels, criticized the government for not inviting its senior leader and Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge.
Gandhi stated, “What is contrary about it? They have decided not to invite the Leader of the Opposition. It tells you something. It tells you that they don’t value the Leader of 60 per cent of India’s population. It’s something that people should think about – why they are feeling the need to do that and what is the type of thinking that goes behind that.”
The G20 Summit in Delhi is a significant international gathering where leaders discuss pressing global issues and strive to find common ground for the betterment of humanity. This special dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu is a momentous occasion, bringing together key figures from various states and government officials to foster cooperation and dialogue.
