'This Is My Gift To India...': Padma Awardee on Being Invited at G20 Summit to Present His Art | WATCH

As G20 leaders meet in New Delhi to hold discussions on a range of global issues, apart from India’s diplomatic strengths, the art and talent of its craftsmen are also on display and to showcase this unparallel craft, several stalls have been installed at the G20 Summit venue by Indian artisans.

Of these stalls, is one owned by Padma Shri Awardee Dilshad Hussain. While talking to the media, Hussain shared his interesting encounter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lucknow and how one of his artefacts was presented by India as a gift to Germany.

In the video shared by news agency ANI, Hussain can be seen recalling how he once set up a stall at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow where he was visited by PM Modi, who appreciated his art and his artisans.

“We had set up a stall at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow and Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to our stall he carefully examined all our artefacts and appreciated our art. After three days, we got a call saying that there was a black-coloured pot on your stall which the Prime Minister liked and would like to take to Germany as a gift. This made us extremely happy,” Hussain told ANI.

The artisan further said that an official from the PMO asked him to send that black artefact to Delhi along with a detailed bill. Hussain, however, said we refused to send the bill and told him that this must be a gift from India for our friends in Germany.

“I said I will not send any bill. You said that it is being taken to Germany as a gift. This is my gift to India. I am happy that our art will represent the country,” Hussain added.

G20 Summit begins in New Delhi

Meanwhile, the two-day Summit of G20 leaders began in New Delhi on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the G20 summit with an opening speech where he urged world leaders to end a “global trust deficit” as India proposed a new text on the Ukraine crisis to break the impasse on the G20 communique, and also announced that the African Union has been granted permanent membership of the grouping.

The leaders attending the two-day summit included US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

However, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are not attending the summit.