Spouses of G20 Summit leaders get glimpse of India’s rich culture and varied culinary delicacies

While the heads of nations and states and world leaders were busy deliberating over important issues at the ongoing G20 Summit in Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, their spouses were treated to a special lunch at Jaipur House on Saturday.

After enjoying specially curated millet-based dishes and street food, they were given a guided tour of an exhibition of culturally-rich artefacts at the National Gallery of Modern Art. Among those who visited NGMA were the first ladies from Turkiye, Japan, the UK, Australia and Mauritius, among others.

Sharing details of their visit to the exhibition, an official of NGMA told PTI: “After lunch at Jaipur House, spouses of some world leaders enjoyed an exhibition hosted at the NGMA that opened today. The exhibition has been showcased especially for them.”

The exhibition is a special one and is titled “Roots and Routes” which explores India’s civilisational heritage, ethos and interconnectedness.

Among the exhibits in NGMA were the 5,000-year-old chariot, a French book collection about ancient Indian instruments, traditional earrings, jewellery, quilts, Pashmina shawls and vintage collection of sarees and dupattas.

NGMA which is under the Union Ministry of Culture houses a rich collection of artworks, including paintings, sculptures and photographs. It was inaugurated at Jaipur House in 1954.

Earlier, the spouses of some leaders paid a visit to Indian Agricultural Research Institute in the Pusa campus to learn about millet farming. There they met some of the women farmers and also looked at the fields in which special types of millets are being grown.

The event also featured a culinary segment in which millet-based dishes from each of the G20 member nations was displayed. Apart from this, members of Farmer Producer Organizations hailing from diverse tribes of India, showcased food items prepared with millets and marketed throughout the country. The visitors also interacted with women leaders involved in the millet value chain, from those engaged in producing to processing to marketing from varied regions of India.

All these events were organised on the sidelines of the two-day G20 Summit.