Tarun Chugh
India has been the voice of peace since the recorded human history. Lord Buddha also gave his teachings of peace. Teachings of Lord Buddha bind India and Japan in deep cultural relations. This was displayed during the G7 Summit when Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for diplomacy to resolve conflicts.
“Enmity does not calm enmity. Enmity is pacified by affinity. It is in this spirit, we should move forward together with everyone,” PM Modi, referred to the teaching of Lord Buddha, while speaking at the ninth working session of the G7 Summit. The backdrop was set by the meeting of PM Modi with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. PM Modi stated that the current situation concerned the humanity. It was not just about economy or politics.
PM Modi last year in his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin had very unequivocally said that “today is not the era of war and conflicts must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy”. Such clarity of expression has rarely been seen among the world leaders. But it’s not the case with PM Modi, who speaks for the humanity. Truly, India has become the first responder to any kind of humanitarian crisis in any part of the world. This shows PM Modi speaking always in the interest of humanity.
Indian voice is heard with gravity in the big league of the nations, as PM Modi brings much weight in his interactions with the global leaders in which he speaks for the humanity as whole and his concerns express the yearnings of all the countries, particularly the developing and the poor countries.
It was in this backdrop that G7 this year listed in its agenda the need to build partnerships with the Global South, a term made popular by India to describe the developing nations, which are facing distinct challenges.
“Global peace, stability, and prosperity is our common objective. In today’s inter-connected world, crises in any one region affect all the countries. And, the developing countries, which have limited resources, are the worst affected. In the current global situation, these countries are facing the maximum and most profound impact of the food, fuel, and fertilizer crisis,” said PM Modi in another working group meeting of G7.
This again demonstrated PM Modi’s firm articulation of the challenges faced by Global South on issues such as sovereign debt, climate change, food shortage, fertilizer crisis, etc. Yet, PM Modi told the leaders of G7 that the world continues to remain stuck in challenges because of the multilateral agencies such as the United Nations (UN) not able to prevent conflicts. PM Modi reminded that the UN was established with the very purpose of establishing peace.
Dissecting weaknesses of the UN, which badly needs reforms to represent the 21st century, PM Modi very forcefully stressed that even the definition of terrorism has not been accepted in the UN. His call for introspection and forceful argument for reforms in big institutions like the UN was received well by the G7 leaders.
India for years has been calling for reforms in the UN, and PM Modi reiterated that the multilateral body must also give space to the voice of the Global South. India being a true functional democracy with much deep roots has always raised the democratic aspirations of the people. That the UN permanent members owe their positions to the wars of the last century and countries such as India despite being projected to have the largest population in the world is not in the coveted club is truly undemocratic.
India has always raised the voice for an international order based on respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, underlining the significance of the UN Charter and international law, which was asserted by PM Modi in his speech in the working group meeting of G7.
PM Modi has been regularly attending G7 summits. This acknowledges India’s growing image on the world stage. India is now the world’s fifth largest economy. Indian economy is bigger than even four members of G7. Also, India has emerged as the voice of Global South with the G20 presidency. India will also host the Quad Summit next year. With PM Modi in the lead, India is now a partner for the countries seeking solutions to challenges faced by them.
India under the leadership of PM Modi has become a strong voice of the growing debt challenges of developing and poor countries. On climate change also, India is the voice of affected nations. India has forcefully called for the advanced countries to share resources for mitigation efforts, including transfer of technology for clean energy, which was again reiterated forcefully by PM Modi before the G7 leaders.
(The author is the national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party)
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