International Summits & Conferences

for Trade - GK Notes

Knowledge of International Summits is very important if you are preparing for various
Banking & SSC Exams. Questions from this topic are often asked in Static GK section of
General Awareness. This article on International Summits & Conferences will help
you in your preparation of banking, SSC, and other Government Exams. You will find
important information on member countries, foundation year, important
meetings held, agenda of meetings etc. Go through this article to get an idea about
important summits in the world. Once done reading, download this article as PDF.

International Summits & Conferences

Keeping international trade and commerce in mind, India participates and hosts a battery
of summits and conferences. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in India actively
participates in most international summits and conferences to give a boost to the Indian
economy. Although most of the summits and conferences have business implications,
trade relations are also strengthened during these meetings. Some of the most important
summits and conferences are BIMSTEC, OPEC, ASEAN, G20, SAARC, etc. Let’s delve into
some of the most important summits and conferences that India participates in.

BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical

and Economic Cooperation)

• BIMSTEC is a regional organization that comprises seven member states – they

are – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand.

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 • The 5th Meeting of the BIMSTEC Sub-Group on Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in
Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, and precursor Chemicals will be held in
Kathmandu, Nepal on 23rd May 2018.

OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)

• The active members of OPEC are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates, and Venezuela.
• OPEC will be hosting the 7th OPEC International Seminar at the Imperial Hofburg
Palace in Vienna, Austria, on 20−21 June 2018.
• The theme for this seminar is “Petroleum – Cooperation for a sustainable future.
• India sends its top diplomats for such seminars to voice out our suggestions and
concerns.

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

• The ASEAN Summit is held semi-annually to discuss the economic, political,

security and socio-cultural development of Southeast Asian countries. ASEAN
comprises 10 member countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
• The ASEAN-INDIA Commemorative Summit was held in New Delhi (January 25-
26, 2018).

SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)

• The SAARC member countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
• The first SAARC Summit was held on 9th-10th December 1985, Dhaka,
Bangladesh. In 2018, the 20th meeting of SAARC will happen in Bengaluru.

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G20

• The G20 group was founded in the year 1999. The member countries are
Argentina, Germany, Australia, Republic of Korea, Canada, China, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United
Kingdom, France, South Africa, United States, and the European Union.
• The first G20 Summit was held on 14-15th November 2008 in Washington D.C.,
USA

More such important summits and their details are summed up in the table below:

Founded in
Name of Organization Members
year

IBSA Summit 2003 India- Brazil-South Africa

Australia, China, India, Japan, New

East Asia Summit (EAS) 2005 Zealand, Republic of Korea,
Russian Federation and the USA.

NAM Summit 1961 120 member countries

China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,

Shanghai Corporation
1996 Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,
Organization (SCO)
India, Pakistan

ASEM Summit 1996 51 countries and 2 regional organizations

Afghanistan Azerbaijan, China, India,

Heart of Asia Conference 2011 Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan,

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 Turkey, Turkmenistan,
United Arab Emirates

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