From Balancing to Leading!

After a rough year in international politics, highlighted by the war between Russia and Ukraine and China’s attack on the country’s border, India will start the year 2023 with both diplomatic and military problems and opportunities. The country is in a special position to represent the interests of the world’s developing countries since it now holds the presidency of the G20.

With a current population of almost 1.4 billion, India boasts the world’s fifth-largest growing economy. The country’s growing economic, political, and social influence offers it the potential to reshape the world’s narrative in a way that more accurately reflects the present.

India’s Comparative Advantage

• India is a microcosm of the globe since it is home to one sixth of the world’s population and has such a wide variety of peoples, languages, religious traditions, and cultural practices.
• India has some of the world’s earliest documented examples of practices involving collaborative decision-making, contributing to the core DNA of democracy.
• Today, India is one of the world’s largest economies with the fastest economic growth, and has a citizen-centric government model.
• In recent years, the country has made groundbreaking strides in domains as diverse as social protection, financial inclusion, and electronic payment systems by using inclusive technology and putting it to good use.
• Because of all of these things, India’s experiences may shed light on possible solutions that could be used around the world.

India’s Plan For The G20 Summit

 

Comprehensive, Aggressive, Results-Oriented, and Resolute

India has made preparations to assume the presidency and has outlined a number of key strategic objectives it hopes to accomplish during its term.

• Climate change, terrorism, and pandemics are just a few examples of the world’s most pressing problems that can only be addressed by working together, not by resorting to violence.
• During India’s Presidency of the G20, efforts would be made to develop a feeling of worldwide oneness. This is why “One Earth, One Family, One Future” is India’s G20 Presidency slogan.
• The logo that India uses for the G20 conveys a similar sense of purpose. The logo’s harmonious combination of saffron, white, and green exemplifies the concepts of diversity and inclusiveness that form the bedrock of India’s cultural ethos, and the picture of the Earth being cradled by the lotus, the country’s national flower, symbolizes progress over challenges. India has been a source of peace and cooperation for a very long time, and that trend seems set to continue.
• The fruits of the previous 17 presidencies’ labors to ensure macroeconomic stability, streamline international taxation, lower countries’ debt loads, etc. The outcomes that India has achieved will continue to be enhanced.
• The Global South, whose voice is frequently overlooked, would be consulted in the formulation of India’s G20 agenda.
• Clearly, India will promote eco-friendly practices and sustainable living by drawing on its long history of stewardship over the natural world.

The Path For The Plan

• During the time that it holds the presidency, India will be the host of over 200 meetings spanning over 30 different workstreams.
• The first G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting under the Indian presidency took place in Bengaluru on December 13–14, 2022.
• This event was part of the G20 Finance Track and was organized by the Indian government. On the same day in Mumbai, December 13, 2022, the first gathering of the Development Working Group as part of the G20 Sherpa Track also got underway.
• During the time that India held the presidency of the G20, substantive discussions across a variety of broad priority areas would center on inclusive and sustainable growth; accelerating achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals; green development and LiFE (Lifestyle for the Environment); public digital infrastructure; reforms of multilateral financial institutions; and international peace and harmony.

Conclusion

The current G20 summit presents an excellent chance for the country to advance, conceptualize, and transmit an international agenda that prioritizes inclusive, equitable, and sustainable growth, with a specific emphasis on LiFE (lifestyle for the environment), digital public infrastructure, women’s empowerment, and tech-enabled development.

However, in the face of an increasingly polarized international system, bringing attention to these concerns is no easy feat. The impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, the global economic downturn, and the debilitating debt problem hitting developing countries are all converging at the same time as India’s presidency.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also stopped decades of development progress. This has put the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) on the back burner in favor of preventing disasters.

India’s idea of sustainable development is based on global cooperation, shared responsibility, and a circular economy. This is precisely what the world needs right now, and India is now at the helm to guide it in that direction.

YLCC would like to thank Pearl Narang for her valuable inputs to this article.