Historic: Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival becomes 1st venue to launch India’s G20 Presidency

Hornbill Festival considered to be the Festival of Festivals of Nagaland added another laurel on Thursday, Dec 1, as it became the first venue to launch India’s G20 presidency, a historic development for the nation.

The ten-day-long cultural and sports extravaganza that kicked-off yesterday at the Naga Heritage Village in Kisama, in Nagaland’s capital Kohima, a city surrounded by lovely blue hills, coincided with India taking up the leadership role at G20.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, inaugurating the Festival yesterday said, “the world will be able to experience Naga hospitality when a meeting of G20 will be held in the state in April next year.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier recommended not limit G20 to major urban cities and to use the opportunity to display India’s rich and diverse cultural landscape.

“India’s G20 is an opportunity for the state of Nagaland to showcase its cultural diversity, uniqueness, and tourism potential,” G20 Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardha Shringla said earlier.

G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising of 19 countries and the European Union. G20 is the forum where the member countries discuss and plan ways to address issues related to the global economy, climate change, maintaining international financial stability and ensuring sustainable development. The members countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union – a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population.