G20 meet: For the first time, women-led agenda take centre stage, says Smriti Irani

GANDHINAGAR: Union Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said thanks to his vision women-led development had become a subject of deliberations during the G20 leadership meetings for the first time.

She was addressing a press conference here on the outcomes of the ‘Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment’, which concluded at Mahatma Mandir during the day.

“Before India took over the G20 presidency, women-related subjects were never at the centre of discussions. Thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, for the first time in the history of G20, women-led development became a subject of deliberations during G20 leadership meetings. For the first time, women-led agenda was central to the discussion in G20,” Irani said.

In the past, G20 never saw the participation of women from rural or humble backgrounds, but under India’s presidency, such women have now found a voice in G20, the Union Women and Child Development minister added.

“The Indian G20 presidency has brought justice to the main table of the world leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured women are not reduced to the sidelines of the conversation. In the history of G20 dialogue, discourse and deliberation, for the first time, women-led agenda has been central to conversations,” the Union minister asserted.

The conference, which began on August 2, saw the participation of 138 delegates from 15 G20 nations, including Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the US, and five guest countries like Bangladesh and the UAE.

One of the key outcomes of the conference was TechEquity, a digital inclusion platform prepared by India with an aim to empower women digitally, said Irani.