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NEW DELHI: Driven by the underlying vision of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is one family), India assumed the G20 presidency, the world’s most influential economic multilateral forum, on December 1, 2022, with a focus on counter-terrorism and “unity” in tackling global challenges like climate change and economic slowdown. During this one year of presidency, India will hold around 200 meetings across 50 cities in India involving civil society, ministers, and officials leading to a marquee summit in New Delhi in September 2023.
Founded in 1999, G20 is the premier forum consisting of 19 countries and the European Union for international economic cooperation, representing developed and emerging economies.
The nation will lead the forum which together represents 85 per cent of the global economy, 66 per cent of the world’s population and 75 per cent of international trade.
The summits are attended by high-ranking officials including each member’s head of government or state, or foreign minister, or finance minister. Invitations are also given for participation to international organisations and non-governmental organisations. This time for the summit, India has invited Mauritius, Egypt, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Oman, Nigeria, Singapore, Spain and the UAE as guest countries.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi stated in his blog post that India’s agenda for the Think 20 tank (G20) will be ‘inclusive, ambitious and action-oriented.’ He asked the countries to come together and make India’s G20 presidency ‘a presidency of healing, harmony and hope.’ He further called for global cooperation to deal with global issues and stated that the challenges of climate change, terrorism and pandemic can be solved not by fighting with one another, but only through acting together. He underlined a need to “depoliticise the global supply of food, fertilizers and medical products, so that geo-political tensions do not lead to humanitarian crises”.
PM Modi cited G20’s theme- “One Earth, One Family, One Future” and said, “This is not just a slogan. It takes into account recent changes in human circumstances, which we have collectively failed to appreciate. Today, we have the means to produce enough to meet the basic needs of all people in the world.”
He further wrote regarding India’s reform story that the nation will share its experiences, learnings and models with the developing countries as templates.
The journey began with the “University Connect” programme, engaging students of universities across the nation and creating awareness about the importance of the G20 presidency. Senior executives, researchers and prominent academics too participated virtually in the G20 University Connect. Addressing the same event, S Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, Government of India said, “As the mother of democracy, India’s G20 presidency will be consultative, it will be collaborative and it will be decisive.” He also stated that New Delhi will seek to emerge as the ‘voice of the Global South’.
In the same event, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 presidency 2023, urged the students to become brand ambassadors in disseminating information to more people about India’s G20 presidency.
India is fully aware of the fact that helming the G20 presidency will be challenging as global situation has not changed with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, working towards reducing emissions and battle against climate change; the cumulative effect from these global situations on energy and food security is something to worry about.