Why in news?

Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant will be the new Sherpa of G-20, replacing Union Minister Piyush Goyal, as full-time sherpa is required for India’s presidency.

Highlights:

• India assumes the G-20 presidency later this year.

Why this move?

• With the G-20 presidency coming to India this year, the Sherpa would need to devote a lot of time to numerous meetings that will be held in different parts of the country.
• Union Minister Goyal, holds the charge of multiple portfolios in the Modi cabinet which consumes a lot of his time.
• In addition, the Minister is also tasked with other pressing duties like the Leader of Rajya Sabha.

Who is a Sherpa?

• A Sherpa is a personal representative of the leader of a member country at an international Summit meeting such as the G8, G20, the Nuclear Security Summit etc.
• The Sherpa engages in planning, negotiation and implementation tasks through the Summit.
• They coordinate the agenda, seek consensus at the highest political levels, and participate in a series of pre-Summit consultations to help negotiate their leaders’ positions.
• Sherpas are career diplomats or senior government officials appointed by the leaders of their countries.
• The term is derived from the Nepalese Sherpa people, who serve as guides for mountaineers in the Himalayas.

About Amitabh Kant

• Kant was NITI Aayog CEO for almost six years and completed his extended term last month.
• Prior to that, the Kerala-cadre IAS officer was Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP).

About G-20

• The G-20 brings together the world’s developed and developing economies, accounting for 85 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the world’s population, making it an influential forum for international economic cooperation.
• As the G-20 presidency, India will set the agenda for the year, identify the themes and focus areas, conduct discussions and work out outcome documents. The G-20 Leaders’ Summit will be held in India for the first time in 2023.
• The G-20 process is basically divided into the Sherpa track and the Finance track. Under the Sherpa track, about 100 official meetings are expected to be organised in the areas of employment, health, digital economy, trade, investment and industry, environment and climate, energy, anti-corruption, agriculture, tourism, culture, socio-economic development, education, and women empowerment.

• Under the Finance track, about 40 meetings are expected to be organised including in the areas of international financial architecture, financial inclusion and sustainable finance, financing for infrastructure, climate finance and tax matters