New Delhi, June 10: The G20 Development Ministers' Meeting under the G20 Indian Presidency is scheduled to be held between June 11-13 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will chair the meeting.

The meeting, to be held as part of India's G20 Presidency, will also see a special video address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official release. G20 Summit 2023: Significant Takeaways That Are Beneficial to India’s Interests.

The Varanasi Development Ministers' Meeting takes place in the midst of mounting developmental challenges that have been made worse by the slowdown in the global economy, debt distress, the effects of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, rising poverty and inequality, the cost of living crisis, supply chain disruptions around the world, and geopolitical tensions and conflicts. G20 Summit 2023: India Off to Very Promising Start With Its Stewardship of G20, Says US.

The G20 Development Ministerial meeting will be an opportunity to collectively agree on actions for accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fostering synergies between the development, environment and climate agendas while avoiding costly trade-offs that hold back progress for the developing countries, the Ministry of External Affairs stated in its release.

The Varanasi gathering follows the Voice of the Global South Summit, which was hosted by India in January 2023. The decisions made at the Varanasi meeting will also have an impact on the United Nations SDG Summit, which will be held in New York in September.

Further, according to the official release, 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.

To give the delegates a taste of Varanasi's rich culture and traditions, cultural programmes, exhibitions, and excursions have also been planned. A total of 200 delegates are expected to attend the meeting.

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