G20 Presidency is India’s Moment to Shine

India’s moment in terms of global diplomacy has arrived with Prime Minister Modi receiving the mantle of G20 Presidentship from the current host Indonesia. G 20 is truly unique in its composition. Comprising developed and developing countries, the group includes 19 nations representing 85% of the global GDP, and 66% of the World population. The bloc came into existence as a forum for meetings of central bank governors and finance ministers to discuss international economic and financial issues in the aftermath of the 1999 Asian Financial Crisis.

The forum graduated to a leaders’ summit in 2008 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis when developing countries like India and China bailed out the advanced economies from bankruptcy. This underscored the need for a collective approach between the developed and developing countries to reflect on the global economy and finances. Ever since leaders of the G20 which also include the EU met initially biannually and later annually to prevent any future financial crisis. But soon G20 expanded in scope to address other developmental challenges and global issues. The agenda now includes aspects related to food security, energy security & transition, climate change, migration & mobility, infrastructure, financing terrorism, health and sustainable developmental goals.

With every new crisis, the agenda of G20 expanded, with the forum now representing a “whole of government approach” ¹. Beyond government, G20 facilitates cross-sectional interactions between different sectors like- Business, civil society, think tanks, independent bodies and private sector through engagement groups. G20 has 10 engagement groups (Business 20, Civil 20, Labour 20, Parliament 20, Science 20, Supreme Audit Institutions 20, Urban 20, Women 20, Youth 20 and Think 20) where delegations from member states hold summits led by organizations of the host country. Thus, the annual affair for the host is bound to be busy, crowded and offers scope for making a meaningful difference.

The G20 has a rotating presidency with no permanent secretariat. The continuance of the G20 agenda is ensured with the troika of the past, present and future leaderships of G20 assisting the host. India has assumed the G20 Presidency for the first time and coincidentally the troika- Indonesia, India, and Brazil are all developing economies. So, India has the responsibility of voicing the concerns of emerging economies and the global south. India has pitched for a new engagement group Startup 20 in line with its call to adopt open source and inter-operable platforms like UPI, Cowin to promote digitization².

G20 Summit gives immense scope for the host country to play a great role in addressing global issues. During the Covid 19 pandemic, G20 hosts Saudi Arabia and Italy pursued Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and played a crucial role in tackling the challenges of the Pandemic respectively. Similarly, Indonesia, which hosted the recently concluded G20 summit themed on “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” at Bali emphasised the need for international collaboration and was instrumental in the implementation of One Health for better global health security.

G20 leadership offers unique opportunities and challenges. India is going to host the 18^th edition of the summit when the world is going through an unprecedented multi-dimensional crisis. Besides the economic downturn, slow economic recovery, climate change poverty, and hindered sustainable development goals the world is going through geopolitically turbulent times. The urgent convening of the NATO and G7 leaders meeting along the sidelines of G20 summit over a sudden explosion along the Poland border mirrored the precarious situation that threatened to perturb World peace and prosperity.

Nations struggling to cope with disruptions caused by the Pandemic are further imperiled by the Ukraine conflict that has hit the recovery process. The World and especially the global south is taking a massive blow. Plagued by energy and food security, countries are facing challenging times to keep their economies stay afloat.

The chronic mistrust between the West and Russia decimated all hopes of consensus, collaboration and coordination. The G20 is now a largely fractured forum. The just concluded edition of G20 finance, foreign and environmental ministers failed to arrive at a Joint Communique. This approach is in contravention to the founding objective of G20 that strived for a coordinated policy response to tackle the economic crises primarily. Coordination has been the driving factor of G20 that worked so well in aftermath of 2008 financial crisis. But over the years, this has been missing. The Ukraine conflict has come as the final nail in the coffin.

The Ukraine crisis cast a shadow on the G20 summit making even the task of finding the right words to reflect the collective sentiments of nations incredibly difficult. Hitting the ground running, even before taking over the leadership, Prime Minister Modi played a major role in contributing to the Bali Declaration central to the summit. Instead of succumbing to the strong positions that virulently attacked Russia, Modi lent his phrase of “this is not an era of war” that resoundingly found acceptance with all the nations. “Today’s era must not be of war” in Bali Declaration surmised the geopolitical situation.

Even a pretense of cooperation and coordination completely vanished due to embroiling Ukraine conflict. Fortunately, India enjoys a relationship of trust with all G20 members with exception of China. This gives India a rare chance to shape the global order. At the Bali Summit, Modi met all the G20 leaders and exchanged notes with them. Amid gloom and despair, Modi promised, “an inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented” presidency while accepting the ceremonial gavel from Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Committed to serving as an anchor for the geopolitical and global economic challenges, Modi unveiled India’s theme for G20 Presidency, “Vasudaiva kutumbakam” or One Earth One Family One Future which underlined the message of equitable growth and shared future for all. Projecting India’s success in mass vaccination with indigenous vaccines, as a lead digital player and a pioneer in energy transition with 40% of installed energy capacity from renewable sources, Modi has positioned India as an emerging player. India is the only G20 country on track to reach the Paris agreement targets before 2030.

India’s achievements and current policy vision have ticked all the boxes that are at the heart of G20’s agenda- Clean energy, Challenges of Covid pandemic, Digital transformation and climate change. In September India announced an ambitious agenda for G20- “Whilst our G20 priorities are in the process of being firmed up, ongoing conversations inter alia revolve around inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth; LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment); women’s empowerment; digital public infrastructure and tech-enabled development in areas ranging from health, agriculture and education to commerce, skill-mapping, culture and tourism; climate financing’ circular economy; global security; energy security; green hydrogen; disaster risk reduction and resilience; developmental cooperation; fight against economic crime; and multilateral reforms³.

India has displayed tremendous leadership during the tumultuous covid times. Besides feeding the 1.3 billion people, India supplied food grains to various countries. Underscoring the need for global consensus in addressing food and energy security, Modi cautioned, “today’s fertiliser shortage is tomorrow’s food crisis, for which the world will not have a solution” and added, “India’s energy security is also important for global growth, as it is the world’s fastest growing economy. We must not promote any restrictions on the supply of energy and stability in the energy market should be ensured”⁴. Alongside Modi pushed for credible reforms in the UN and urgent revamp of the UNSC.

With India at the forefront of digital-based economic transformation, Modi stated, “the proper use of digital technologies can become a force multiplier in the decades-long global fight against poverty…. But the benefits will be realized only when digital access is truly inclusive and when the use of digital technology is really widespread… it is the responsibility of us, G20 leaders, that the benefits of digital transformation should not be confined to a small part of the human race”⁵.

India has deployed technology to reduce inequalities. The world can definitely benefit from the slow and swift progress India has made in various domains. With its experience, India can definitely contribute to tackling global challenges. By highlighting India’s capabilities, Modi has showcased it as the bright spot of the future. With democracy and demographic dividend in its favour, India can use these twin aspects to leverage its position in the world. As the fastest-growing developing economy, a large country like India can potentially fuel the global growth engine.

Though G20 is not a forum for geopolitics by advocating diplomacy and dialogue, India is goading nations for negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict that triggered an economic recession, spiralling inflation and falling standards of living. Pushing positively for economic growth, India is displaying rare confidence and capability. As voiced by Modi, “the world is looking at the G20 with hope”⁶. Ostensibly, G20 presidency is India’s moment to shine!! With delicate diplomatic balancing and dynamic political acumen, India must showcase its ability to steer the global economic leadership.

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