G20 Johannesburg Summit 2025: PM Modi returns to Delhi after three-day visit — Key discussions at the global meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to Delhi on Monday after completing his three-day visit to Johannesburg, South Africa, for the G20 Summit hosted under the South African presidency. During the summit, he met multiple world leaders, attending different sessions with the focus on global growth, climate action, and development priorities of the Global South.

Key discussions of PM Modi at the global meet

• Addressing the summit, PM Modi emphasised the need for leaders to achieve sustainable and inclusive global development, adding that the existing growth parameters have deprived large resources and led to the overexploitation of nature globally. He underscored the requirement to opt for “integral humanism”, an ideology which shows individuals, society and nature as one integrated system.
• To sabotage the drug-terror nexus, PM Modi has made four major proposals, including a coordinated global effort. He also pushed G20 nations to strengthen instruments related to governance, finance and security to counter the growing menace.
• Emphasising the growth and development of Africa, PM Modi proposed a ‘G20–Africa Skills Multiplier Initiative’ to equip young people across the continent through a “train-the-trainer” model. The plan seeks to develop one million certified trainers over the next 10 years, strengthening local capacity and job creation.
• He also urged the creation of a global traditional knowledge repository to safeguard indigenous wisdom, and recommended establishing a global health response team to ensure swift action during pandemics and natural disasters.
• During the summit’s second session, Modi drew attention to the rising number of natural disasters and called for deeper international cooperation. He noted that India set up the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group during its G20 presidency in 2023, and welcomed South Africa’s continued focus on the issue this year.
• Underscoring the need for clean-energy transitions, the Prime Minister introduced the “G20 Critical Minerals Circularity Initiative”, highlighting that advances in recycling, urban mining and second-life batteries could ease supply-chain pressures and accelerate climate goals.
• Advocating greater use of space technology for development, Modi proposed a “G20 Open Satellite Data Partnership” to widen access to satellite data for agriculture, fisheries and disaster management, particularly across the Global South.
• He further reiterated India’s commitment to food security and climate action, citing domestic milestones such as the largest food and health security schemes for the world, as well as India’s global efforts to promote millets.