New Delhi
As India gears up to host the G20 summit in New Delhi in September, the international diplomatic community is upbeat about New Delhi’s skills in shaping the global agenda. In this interview, Dr Maria Fernanda Espinosa, a former president of the United Nations General Assembly, the first from Latin America and the Caribbean to preside over this body, says that India has raised the bar by placing women-led development and interests of the Global South at the heart of its G20 presidency. Excerpts:
Q: Women-led development is one of the core priorities of India’s G20 presidency. How can India promote women-led development under its presidency, especially the empowerment of women in countries of the Global South?
A: India’s G20 presidency is a revolution because it has not only looked at the world’s priorities but also been open and sensitive to the needs and aspirations of the Global South countries by undertaking a crusade for inclusion. This inclusion is not only of different countries in different sectors and actors, think tanks and civil society, but also inclusion within India. The other very important issue is the issue of women-led development. Because what you often hear is development for women, or development that is friendly to women’s needs, with better access to financial services, education, and health for women—this is all very good and necessary. But here when you say women-led development, the verb “to lead” is critical, because it is not women as recipients or as beneficiaries, it is women as actors, decision-makers, and owners of their own destiny which is a paradigm shift in thinking. We should use that momentum to bring it to Brazil as well. Any effort on sustainable development, on stabilising our macroeconomic landscape, on “solving” global problems will not succeed if you leave half of the world’s population behind. India has understood this very clearly. Women-led development is, therefore, about putting women to lead and take decisions.
Q: India’s G20 presidency is aspiring to mainstream issues of the Global South in the G20 agenda. What do you think has been the progress so far and what is the way ahead?
A: When it was established, the G20 was seen as the club of the wealthy and powerful. Because of the successive presidencies of Indonesia, India, Brazil, and South Africa, it’s a golden opportunity for the Global South to shape the agenda and priorities. We live in a world of paradox, where we are divided between the countries of the Global North that have all the wealth, be it water, biodiversity, cultural diversity, oil and gas and critical minerals, and a well-educated population that is growing younger, and those of the Global South which is perceived as the poorest in the poorest parts of the world. It’s the Global South where the wealth, the labour force, the intellect, and the talent are there, and yet other countries are wealthier. Why? Because there is a divide in technology access and capacity building. It’s also because of very uneven partnerships in the way we use the wealth and resources of the Global South, including atmospheric space. The climate crisis is because of an uneven distribution of atmospheric space. If you look at per capita emissions in India, or in my country, Ecuador, then you see that something is wrong. We need to rebalance cooperation through technology transfer, low carbon technology transfer to proper investment, because the money and the resources are up here, and the actual wealth and resources and human power and human talent is mostly in the South. So, this act of rebalancing and working in partnership and forging alliances is perhaps the greatest challenge of our time.
Q: How can India advance the reform of the UNSC and global governance architecture, under its G20 presidency? Is there a critical mass in favour of UN reforms and UN Security Council reforms?
A: First of all, wherever you go, there is wide agreement about the UN reforms. The G20 has the traction and the power to really make the reform happen not only for the UN system but also for international financial institutions. Global governance institutions need to be efficient, inclusive, and relevant to people. We are living in a multipolar and polycentric world. Knowing the UN quite well, I would say we need to be also committed to improving the way the General Assembly operates in terms of accountability, implementation, the way we make decisions and the legitimacy of those decisions. We also need to be concerned about the paralysis of the Security Council and think seriously about expanding the membership of the UNSC to make it more representative of a changing world order. The debate on reform of the Security Council has been going on for more than 20 years, but it’s not making headway. You go one step forward, but then there is some regression on certain things. There are different “rival” groupings, like the G4 and the L69, what is called United for Consensus. I don’t think that the process is going to go far if there is no political decision to really go forward with some formula that can be acceptable for the P5. We have heard some positive signs from some permanent members of the Security Council like the US, France, and the UK, but more needs to be done.
Q: India’s G20 presidency is also India’s moment under the global sun. How do you look at India’s emergence as a global power with its own narrative on global affairs?
A: India is taking its leadership role very seriously. We saw that in the way that India took over the G20 presidency with great responsibility and creativity; and also, in a very intentional dialogue with the Global South. We need to close the gaps in gender inequality and the role of women. And we are really looking to India to have not only this critical leadership role in the G20 context but also to be a strong voice in the concert of nations in the United Nations, for UN reform, and when we are redesigning the international financial institutions. A strong voice is also needed for the more than 60 countries in distress. It’s really not acceptable that most countries, my own country, are paying more in debt and interest to service their debt than what they’re investing in health or education. So, there is a rebalancing act that needs to happen. I agree that we need to mobilise more resources and that the private sector has to come in. But, under India’s G20 presidency, we hope for a very strong decision on debt relief and debt cancellation in some critical cases. This is something that could be perhaps one of the greatest legacies of India’s G20 presidency.
Manish Chand is CEO, Centre for Global Insights India, a think tank focused on global affairs and India Writes Network. He is Editor-in-Chief, India and the World, a journal on international affairs