K R Sudhaman
The G20 summit under India’s presidency to be held in New Delhi next week on September 9 and 10 could not have come at any time better for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to highlight the need to establish a new World order that is free from hunger and diseases for all. Though the focus is going to be geo-politics in the light of prolonged Russian-Ukraine war coupled with the strained Sino-US relations, promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth by converting challenges into opportunity would be emphasised by Modi to impress upon the members to move away from polarised geo-politics for the common good of the humanity.
In this context advancing United Nations sustainable development Goals could take the centre stage of the summit, which provided the right platform to discuss and coordinate global economic agenda, vital to put the global growth back on higher trajectory.
India’s external minister S Jaishankar may have to indulge in some tight rope walk to enable confronting nations to see reasons for moving towards peace and dialogue, it is time for the world leaders to now seriously work for welfare of all the people, which by itself blunt the confrontationist approach of some nations. In this connection Modi’s assertion in a news agency interview for the need to move away from “GDP-centric approach to human-centric one” assumes significance. “Irrespective of the size of GDP, every voice matters,” he says adding “many positive impacts are coming out of India’s G20 Presidency. Some of them are close to my heart.”
“A GDP centric view of the World is now changing to a human-centric one, and just as a new world order was seen after World War ll, a new world order is emerging post Covid,” Modi said in the interview to PTI emphasising the shift to human centric approach has begun globally and that India was playing the role of catalyst. The efforts of India for greater inclusion of global south has gained momentum.
His assertion gains credence in the light of the fact that G20 represents 85 per cent of the global GDP; 75 per cent of the world trade and 65 per cent of the World population. Originally, India was scheduled to host the G20 summit in 2021, and Italy in 2022. However, after a request made by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, India exchanged its presidency of the G-20 with Indonesia because Indonesia would also chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2023.. So the mantle for hosting G20 fell on India this year and next year, the summit will be held in Brazil.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, The European Union comprised G20. The G20’s primary aim is to promote international financial stability and sustainable economic growth through policy coordination and cooperation. Every year, a G20 summit is held, and the host nation takes on the responsibility of guiding the G20’s agenda for the year. The forum has played significant role in dealing with economic challenges since the 2008 global financial crisis.
The India G20 Presidency has set the theme of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth • One Family • One Future.” This theme is derived from the Sanskrit phrase of the Maha Upanishad. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of all life on the planet Earth and in the wider universe. It is precisely for this reason Modi has emphasised on the need for human-centric approach. Unfortunately, the summit is taking place at a time when de-globalisation and increased protectionism is being resorted to especially by the advanced nations. The Russian-Ukraine war and strained Sino-US relations enable several countries move away from making the World as one global village. Perhaps the summit might reinvigorate to strive towards the reinvention of globalisation that helped in lifting millions of people out of abject poverty in emerging economics.
Modi is right in saying that human-centric approach works even during a crisis as evident from India’s response during the Covid pandemic. A clear and coordinated approach, direct assistance to the most vulnerable using technology, vaccine drive, largest ever in the world and sharing medicines to 150 countries indicate the Indian government’s effort in adopting human-centric approach first at home and then sharing the vaccine to the needy countries for the common good of the world. This also reflected the fact that many of the solutions that the world needed are already being successfully implemented in India with “speed and scale”.
The Covid 19 has underscored the importance of global health and pandemic preparedness and rightly world leaders will discuss threadbare the commitment to strengthening healthcare systems and ensure equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatments to combat future crises.
A important outcome of this summit would be that Modi has ensured such international summits are no longer Delhi-centric. It not only provided an opportunity to showcase the entire India, but also making all states inclusive in such events for their mutual benefit. In Modi’s own words, by the time India’s one year long G20 Presidency is over, 220 meetings would have happened across 60 cities in all the 28 states and 8 union territories. Over one lakh participants from around 125 countries would have witnessed the skills of Indians. Over 1.5 crore people in the country were involved in these programmes.
This summit, certainly, had provided opportunity to widen the network and explore new avenues for people. It has also enabled to push capacity building in logistics, hospitality, tourism, soft skills and execution of projects. This is expected to act as a stimulant for job creation. Both Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Chinese supremo Xi Jinping are skipping the summit. The two countries will be represented by other senior leaders.
The summit will forge a global alliance to accelerate climate action through its democratisation. It will focus on lifestyle impact on climate. It will adopt G20 action plan to speed up sustainable development goals and lifestyles for sustainable development. Energy and food security too will dominate the discussions apart from women empowerment. Prime Minister will have a tough task in working out a declaration from the summit to the satisfaction of the leading powers who are in confrontation.
Indian PM’s negotiating skills and power to converge conflicting views on geopolitics will be on test at the Delhi Summit. The successful conclusion of the Summit and a Delhi Declaration on September 10 are essential for the Indian Prime Minister to project his standing before the Indian people in the pre-Lok Sabha election year. (IPA Service)
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