Senior officials of India, France and Australia on Wednesday held talks as part of the preparation for a crucial meeting of the G20 in Italy next week. The meeting of the G20 foreign ministers is likely to deliberate on ways to effectively deal with the coronavirus crisis as well as reviving the global economy that has been reeling under the adverse impact of the pandemic.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to travel to Italy to attend the meeting. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are also likely to participate in the in-person meeting.

French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain tweeted about the virtual deliberations among the senior officials of India, France and Australia to prepare for the G20 meet. He said the “trilateral dialogue” among the three countries now expands to coordination at the G20.

“Today, Senior Officials from the three countries met virtually to jointly prepare for next week’s #G20 ministerial on key priorities, such as #digital issues, #ClimateAction, & global fight against the #pandemic,” he said. The G20 summit is scheduled to be held in Italy in October. India is expected to hold the presidency of the G20 in 2022.

The G20 is an influential bloc that brings together the world’s major economies. The G20 member countries collectively account for more than 80 per cent of world GDP, 75 per cent of the global trade and 60 per cent of the population of the planet. The G20 member countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.