Tanu Sharma
Assuming the presidency of G-20 is hailed as a momentous opportunity for India to become a global agenda setter amidst looming crisis and chaos around 3C’s-CoVID, Climate change, and Conflict. The journey from being a rule taker to a rule maker has been made possible because of India’s exemplary growth story and strong leadership at the helm.
G-20, which is home to 2/3rd of the world population and represents 85% of the world GDP, is a significant platform to drive global consensus on solutions to address common pressing issues. India is quite optimistic and enthusiastic about capitalising on this opportunity to place our narrative on the global agenda, address multilateral issues and showcase India’s development and cultural diversity.
PM Modi’s piece on India taking on the G-20 presidency made me figure out the common
thread in all his speeches and writings, which is an emphasis on our civilisational heritage that holds answers to all global problems.
The very theme of G-20, ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ highlights its commitment to ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, drawn from the Sanskrit text of Maha Upanishad, promoting oneness and harmony.
This also seems in alignment with the ‘Panch Pran’, to take pride in our civilisational heritage and to decolonise our minds as espoused by the PM.
Today India is setting growth models for others to emulate. Growing as a techno-democracy, India’s success story of digitalisation of the economy is very well appreciated by the world. Our DBT has been lauded by IMF as a ‘logistical marvel’. LiFE, a concept advocated by PM in COP-26 Glasgow as a mass movement advocating for mindful and deliberate utilisation of resources by people, shows
India’s citizen centricity in governance. International Solar Alliance and CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure) are some of the exemplary initiatives led by India. India citing that the ‘Present era is not the era of war’ and calling for the resolution of the frozen conflict of Russia-Ukraine through dialogue and diplomacy paints India’s diplomatic maturity.
Diaspora diplomacy of India and vaccine diplomacy of India have earned it goodwill on the international stage. People grooving all over the world to the beats of the Bollywood track ‘Kala Chashma’ and their viralling videos depict India’s soft power and cultural diplomacy.
The world economy reeling under the after effects of the pandemic and the consequent supply chain disruptions have posed global food security challenges. The declaration of the year 2023 as the ‘International year of
Millets’ offers a dual solution for both climate adaptability and food security.
Our economy has been able to sustain a comparatively higher growth rate in the post-pandemic era, which is well above the world average as well as that of China.
Lately in the ‘No Money for Terror’ conference organised in New Delhi, the countries echoed a uniform, unified, zero-tolerance approach to terrorism as the terrorist threat is growing more ideologically diverse and geographically diffused.
As per the SDG Report 2020, the world is not on track to achieve its goals by 2030. While India is also lagging on SDG targets, it is still an outlier as far as performance on the 2030 targets is concerned. With the current pace, India is much ahead of any income grouping.
A significant development among all these is that J&K will be hosting some of the meetings of the G-20.
This will be the first major international summit to be held in Jammu and Kashmir after the erstwhile state’s special status guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution was withdrawn and it was divided into two Union Territories in August 2019. The tacit acceptance of the choice of Kashmir as a venue, by the West, is seen as a big diplomatic win for India as it would mean that the region is no longer considered an issue. However, it shall be focussed on promoting tourism.
Today, the world needs democratisation of world affairs and shared growth where there is no first world or third world but an equal world.
As India embarks on the historic sojourn of assuming multiple presidencies, like that of the UNSC, SCO, and Wassenaar Agreement, it is hoped that India will set a trailblazing precedent and inch a step towards becoming a Vishwaguru.
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