The White House on Saturday (November 22, 2025) said South Africa was refusing to facilitate a smooth transition of its presidency of the Group of 20 major economies to the U.S., after the G20 issued a declaration on climate change over U.S. objections.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had pushed to issue a G20 leaders’ declaration addressing the climate crisis and other global challenges “despite consistent and robust U.S. objections.”

She said U.S. President Donald Trump looked forward to “restoring legitimacy to the G20 in the U.S.’s 2026 host year.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Johannesburg from November 21 to 23 to attend the 20th G20 Leaders’ Summit hosted by South Africa, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday (November 19, 2025).

This will be the fourth consecutive G20 Summit held in the Global South.

At the Summit, Prime Minister Modi will put forth India’s perspectives on the G20 agenda. He is expected to speak in all three sessions of the Summit, it said.

“On the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the prime minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg. The prime minister will also be participating in the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Leaders’ Meeting being hosted by South Africa,” the MEA said.

The three sessions of the Summit include “Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth Leaving No One Behind: Building our economies, the role of trade, financing for development and the debt burden”.

The other two sessions are — “A Resilient World – the G20’s Contribution: Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change, Just Energy Transitions, Food Systems”; and “A Fair and a Just Future for All: Critical Minerals; Decent Work; Artificial Intelligence”.