Dr. Ramesh Raina
In response to a question from a Pakistani Journalist that India was abusing G20 Presidency with Kashmir Meet, Manoj Sinha LG J&K said “G20 Presidency is a matter of pride for us. The presence of UN representatives here indicates that the world wants India to host such events”. It indeed is an unequivocal stand that Jammu & Kashmir no longer is an issue for the world to be used as an instrument against India and also signals growing irrelevance of Pakistan in global affairs.
At one point of time countries like the US, UK, Germany, France and G20 members had issued travel advisories to their citizens regarding Kashmir a no-go area for them but J&K has demolished the fake narrative by demonstrating that Kashmir is not only on the path of recovery but on an upward trajectory in terms of growth and development.
The turnaround in India’s strong imprint on Global diplomacy is not sudden but it has been working steadily and surely for its meaningful presence on the world stage for a long time and few events as illustrated below provided that opportunity
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) India assumed the chair of CHOGM in November 1983 and saw the participation of 44 Nations when it adopted of famous Goa Declaration, laying stress on the promotion of peace, disarmament and dispute resolutions through negotiation which in actuality was to showcase its resolve and willingness to play a positive and meaningful role in world affairs.
Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) Summit
In March 1983 India successfully hosted yet another summit of great significance which attracted the largest number ever assembled heads of States and Governments from the NAM countries, even UN secretary General was one of the attendees. Delegates from 140 countries participated in the summit and it turned out to be the least controversial event, a feat even acknowledged by world leaders of the times like Ronald Reagan, Andropov, Mitterand, Kohl, Nakasone, Zao chiang, Trudeau and many more. The summit also became famous for the memorable hug between Indira Gandhi and Cuban President Fidel Castro which caught the international headlines. The summit owed its success to the powerful advocacy of NAM about the third world hitherto unknown to the bipolar world driven by USA and the then USSR.
President of BRICS
PM Narendra Modi chaired 13th Brics summit in 2021.The theme of the summit was intra-Brics co-operation for consolidation and consensus. Its evolution as an influential voice of emerging economies is seen as its major achievement. The summit concluded with the adoption of “New Delhi Declaration” – a resolve towards reforming the principal organs of the UN including the reform of UNSC.
Chair of SCO
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an intergovernmental organisation established in 2001, has actively worked towards combating drug trafficking, terror financing, along with other economic activities. It has also actively taken part in normalising the situation in Afghanistan. India hosted a two day conclave of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) nations in Goa recently.
Chairman of WTO Executive Board
World Trade Organisation (WTO) is a 164-member multilateral body which formulates rules for global exports and imports and adjudicates disputes between countries on trade-related issues and India has been its member since 1995. WTO members use this platform to discuss specific trade concerns, laws, regulations or procedures that affect their trade.
Chair of G20
Founded in 1999 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis as a forum for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to discuss global economic and financial issues, G20 was upgraded to the level of Heads of State/ Government consequent to the global economic and financial crisis of 2007 and 2009, and designated as the “premier forum for international economic cooperation. The Group of Twenty (G20) is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States and the European Union, and its members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
Such leadership roles in a wide spectrum of international forums, despite ongoing challenges between a few member nations, are set to make India’s presence felt across the globe paving the way for its much greater role on the international platforms and taking it a step closer to staking its claim for more responsible assignments in a reformed “United Nations,” whenever it happens.
Coming to the point, holding a non-political G20 summit in Kashmir is to firmly establish India’s image as a world leader. As CHOGM and NAM provided India an ideal opportunity to showcase its global leadership capabilities, similarly G20 in Kashmir has enhanced its global image. The international event like this has added a new chapter to the otherwise turbulent history of Kashmir. This is further reinforced by the strong message of acknowledging Kashmir as an undisputed and an integral part of India and rendering Kashmir a non-issue on the international agenda. This has also exposed Pakistan’s habituated lies in misleading the global opinion that Kashmiri Muslims are being religiously persecuted and marginalised in the UT of J&K. The time for Pakistan has come when it has to admit that Kashmir has become an ‘Albatross ‘around its neck and has run completely out of ideas as to how to go beyond it. It also has to accept that it no longer enjoys the diplomatic leverage at the international level despite having China on its side to affect either the course of events in Kashmir or impact India’s emergence as global leader in anyway.
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