PM Modi has said that India’s G20 agenda would be inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and decisive.
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday took the reins of the G20 presidency for one year, under the central theme “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, which means “the world is one family”. It’s a “watershed” moment for the country where for the next one year India will host a multitude of events across the country and showcase India’s rich cultural heritage, conduct various dialogues on counter-terrorism, climate crisis, financial growth, economic stability and agriculture, among other important issues that affect the world, with the aim of global economic growth and prosperity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while assuming charge of the presidency of G20 on Thursday, said that India’s G20 presidency will promote and focus on the universal sense of oneness, because of which the theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” was chosen.
Prime Minister Modi also said that India’s G20 agenda would be inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and decisive, where the priorities for the next one year would not only be holding consultations with the G20 member countries, but also with fellow travellers.
In an article, the Prime Minister also listed that the world today, including India, faces some of the greatest challenges such as terror, climate change, and pandemic which can be best fought together. “India looks forward to working on encouraging sustainable lifestyles, depoliticising the global supply of food fertilizers and medical products, among other subjects. Let us join together to make India’s G20 presidency a presidency of healing, harmony and hope. Let us work together to shape a new paradigm—of human-centric globalisation,” PM Modi said.
As India assumed charge of the G20 presidency, India’s permanent representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj termed it as a “watershed moment” in India’s history as the country seeks to play a pivotal role in finding a pragmatic approach to global solutions for the well-being of the world. G20 has 19 countries and the European Union as part of the group of countries that it represents. The G20 includes both developing and developed countries that together contribute to about 60% of the world population, 80% of the world GDP and 75% of the world trade. Though the G20 does not have a permanent secretariat, it hosts an annual event each year which is supported and coordinated by the Troika–the past, the present and the future presidency country. In this case, at the 2023 G20 summit, India being the present president will be supported by Indonesia (past) and Brazil (future) president.
The summit assumes greater significance this time around due, as many international experts say, to rising tensions between the member countries, wherein Russia and the European Union are not on the same page owing to the Ukraine conflict, China’s aggressive expansionist nature, the border conflicts and global economic slowdown.
Though the G20 presidency does not offer any formal power to the host nations, it does present an opportunity to India to influence the collective common agenda, including the economic agenda of some of the most powerful and influential countries of the world.
During the G20 presidency, India will host around 200 meetings in more than 50 locations across the country and on Thursday when the country began the presidency, a University Connect event was organised where the event saw the virtual participation of students and leading academicians from 75 universities across the country. External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, as well as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, were among the distinguished speakers. On the same day, the Hornbill festival that was being organised in Kohima also focused on the G20 summit.
The Ministry of Culture has also taken up the task to illuminate 100 monuments, including some UNESCO World Heritage Sites across the country, showcasing the G20 summit’s official logo. A selfie campaign has also been launched by Government of India for citizens around these illuminated monuments.
“I wanted to stress that we want the whole of Government of India approach and you will see various parts of the government, particularly coordinated by the G20 Secretariat, to try to take this forward. There are numerous events that we have planned till next September and beyond as our presidency unfolds, so please follow the latest developments on the G20 social media accounts. All of them are now active—I think Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Koo, the website, which is again now with India G20 Secretariat, as well as a special app that has been launched—and we should be able to bring you events as we move forward,” Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, told the media on Thursday.
December would also see at least five G20 meetings being held across the country, which would include two Sherpa Track meetings and three Financial Track meetings. The first of the Sherpa Track meeting will begin from Sunday in Udaipur.
Heads of missions and senior diplomats of the G20 member nations and nine guest countries that are invited to the G20 summit in 2023 and representatives of international organisations such as the United Nations, were taken to the Swaraj Deep Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of the briefing for the summit to be held in September next year.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that the briefing covered shared priorities in areas of public digital goods and digital infrastructure, climate action, climate finance and technology collaborations, sustainable, affordable and inclusive energy transition, accelerated progress on sustainable development goals, women-led development and multilateral reforms.
However, one of the biggest challenges that the G20 summit faces is building a consensus for finding common accepted solutions for major challenges such as a slowing global economy, a massive debt crisis that threatens to affect around 70 nations, worldwide poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crises.
The global fuel crisis due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war could also pose a challenge for countries to find a solution on the same. India would also like to raise the issue of justice for the “Global South” when it comes to taking up responsibility for the climate crisis and to provide them with adequate finances.