India in the G20: a guide for Model G20 delegates

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India is one of the 19 countries in the G20, alongside the European Union and the African Union. It held the G20 presidency in 2023, when the African Union became a permanent member at the New Delhi summit, and it chairs BRICS in 2026. India presents itself as a voice of the developing world while running one of the world's largest economies. This guide reflects official sources as of mid-October 2026.

At a glance

System: a parliamentary republic. President Droupadi Murmu (sworn in on 25 July 2022) is head of state, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads the government.
People: about 1.46 billion (World Bank estimate, 2025), more than China in the same dataset.
Economy: World Bank GDP of about US$3.96 trillion in 2025 (the IMF has US$3.91 trillion); both put India sixth in the world in current dollars. The World Bank classes India as "Lower middle income", and the IMF puts output per person at US$2,670 (2025).
G20 record: presidency from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023, with the leaders' summit in New Delhi on 9 to 10 September 2023.
2026: chair of BRICS, whose summit met in New Delhi on 12 to 13 September 2026.

India's G20 story

India's troika (the previous, current and next presidencies) was Indonesia, India and Brazil. India's foreign ministry (MEA) called it "the first time when the troika would consist of three developing countries and emerging economies". The theme was "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", or "One Earth • One Family • One Future". The main outcomes were:

The African Union joined. The New Delhi Leaders' Declaration says: "We welcome the African Union as a permanent member of the G20".
A declaration on day one. The MEA says it was "adopted unanimously by all G20 countries on the first day of the Summit (09 September 2023)". On Ukraine, the text recorded "different views and assessments of the situation" and named no aggressor.
Digital public infrastructure (DPI). Leaders welcomed a voluntary G20 framework for DPI and India's plan for a global repository of it.
New partnerships on the sidelines: the Global Biofuel Alliance and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

Since then the presidency has passed to Brazil (2024), South Africa (2025) and the United States (2026). The MEA's July 2026 brief names no future Indian presidency.

What India wants from the G20

These are India's positions, from its own statements and the New Delhi text. Other members disagree with some of them.

A louder Global South. In 2025 Modi said members must work together to "ensure that the voice of the Global South is heard and strengthened across all global institutions." In 2023 he told the G20 that "the permanent members in UNSC are still the same", though the New Delhi text does not call for Security Council reform.
Fair finance and manageable debt. The New Delhi text stresses "addressing debt vulnerabilities in low and middle-income countries", and a senior MEA official pointed in 2025 to "the high cost of capital that developing countries currently face." Modi's summary that year: "Finance must be fair".
Climate action with money attached. India's latest climate pledge (its NDC, 2026) targets a 47 percent cut in the emissions intensity of its GDP by 2035 from 2005 levels, and about 60 percent non-fossil power capacity by 2035 "with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance". On coal, the New Delhi text speaks of "phasedown of unabated coal power", not phase-out, "in line with national circumstances".
Digital and AI for all. India wants DPI shared widely and, in Modi's words in 2025, "a global compact on AI". The MEA says the declaration of India's AI Impact Summit (February 2026) "has been endorsed by 92 countries and international organisations"; it rests on "voluntary, non-binding frameworks".
Open trade. A trading system "with WTO at its core", and, in Modi's 2025 words, "Trade should be trusted".
Counter-terrorism. The New Delhi text condemns "terrorism in all its forms and manifestations".

Groupings and partnerships

BRICS: a founding member and the 2026 chair. Its New Delhi Declaration (September 2026) backs the G20's "consensus decision making".
Quad: India, Australia, Japan and the United States.
G4: Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, seeking Security Council expansion "in both the permanent and non-permanent categories" (September 2026). Not all countries share this view.
IBSA: India, Brazil and South Africa.
SCO: a member since June 2017.
Not a member of the G7 (Modi joined its outreach session in 2025), ASEAN (a dialogue partner) or the EU (a strategic partner).
Coalitions India launched or co-launched: the International Solar Alliance (with France, 2015), the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Global Biofuel Alliance.

India and its G20 partners

India works with members on all sides of today's disputes:

United States: India's largest trading partner (US$210.1 billion in goods and services, 2024). The two reached a framework for an interim trade agreement on 6 February 2026.
China: ties were "adversely impacted" by incidents on the Line of Actual Control in 2020. After a disengagement agreement, Modi and Xi Jinping met in 2024 and 2025. The boundary dispute is not settled.
Russia: a "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership", with record trade of USD 68.7 billion in India's 2024-25 financial year, falling to USD 59.863 billion in 2025-26, and oil among India's imports from Russia.
Europe: India and the EU concluded free trade negotiations in January 2026, and India's trade agreement with the UK entered into force on 15 July 2026.

Recent developments

February 2026: India signed the Pax Silica Declaration and attended a US-led critical minerals ministerial.
May 2026: Quad foreign ministers in New Delhi announced a "Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework".
September 2026: at India's BRICS summit, leaders voiced "serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures", opposed "unilateral, punitive, discriminatory and protectionist measures that are not in line with international law, such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms", and underscored "the status of South Africa as a G20 founding country and a full-fledged member". These are joint BRICS texts: the trade and carbon passages name no country, and we found no separate Indian statement on South Africa's exclusion.
2026 G20: official lists show India at US-hosted meetings. Who represents India at the Miami summit (14 to 15 December 2026) is not confirmed.

Representing India at a Model G20

Be big and developing at once. Use India's size for weight and its low average income to speak for poorer countries, but do not call it the "fourth-largest economy": on 2025 IMF and World Bank figures it is sixth.
Likely allies. Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and the African Union on debt and the Global South; Japan, Germany and Brazil on the Security Council; Quad partners on critical minerals.
Likely sticking points. Climate targets without finance and technology, unilateral tariff and carbon border measures (which BRICS leaders, India among them, criticised in September 2026) and weaker counter-terrorism language. On Ukraine, India's line is "This is not an era of war": do not say India condemns or backs Russia.
Phrase positions as bridges. The 2023 declaration bridged differences with wording such as "in line with national circumstances" and "different views and assessments". Offer such language when talks stall, and use the full climate principle, "common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities".
Bridge to 2026. The US presidency stresses deregulation, energy and technology. Present DPI, AI and India's proposed "G20 Critical Minerals Circularity Initiative" as answers to those themes.
Quote your documents. The New Delhi Leaders' Declaration (2023), Modi's Johannesburg statements (2025), India's NDC (2026), the BRICS New Delhi Declaration (2026) and the MEA's G20 brief (July 2026).

What to do next

Build your brief with how to write a Model G20 position paper, and see how such texts are negotiated in how a G20 leaders' declaration is agreed. Then read the G20 Sherpa Track and Finance Track explained and the 2026 G20 presidency explained.

Model G20 is One Young India's simulation of the G20 summit for students, held as a three-day residential summit at FLAME University.

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