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A VOICE FOR GLOBAL SOUTH
India’s presidency should represent the widest and most vulnerable constituencies. It can also advance intra-South Asian economic integration which is essential for India's rise
On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the logo, website and theme for India’s presidency of the G20, setting the tone for the country’s G20 presidency, beginning December 1. Modi’s clarion call was “One Earth, One Family, One Future”, aptly underscored by the phrase “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”. Apart from the national flag’s colours, the logo depicts a lotus with seven petals on which symbolically rests the earth, its oceans and the seven continents signalling a pro-planet approach. Modi drove home the point that India’s presidency will transcend the limitations of geography and categories to encompass the whole world, leaving none behind. India will work to deliver global goods as a voice for the Global South. The lotus, a symbol of purity and resilience, suggests hope that the global community will overcome the debilitating economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
India's responsibility
India’s G20 presidency coincides with its growing confidence, matched by its rising stature and high economic growth rate. It must nonetheless countenance a complex geopolitical moment, with tensions between G7 nations and Russia over the war in Ukraine, and growing friction between the US and China. India’s commitment to advancing South-South cooperation is well acknowledged. At the height of the pandemic, India provided 250 million vaccine doses to 101 countries, apart from other medical assistance. PM Modi’s recent advice to President Putin that “now is not the time for war” is anchored in the ethos of peace and non-violence, the legacy of Buddha and Gandhi. India’s stewardship of the G20 will be defined by continuity and change. The developmental agenda must receive first billing. Differences over energy diversification and the emerging challenges in trade and technology will need reconciliation. Stagflation in the US, China and Europe threatens to affect the global economic outlook. Policy coherence in macroeconomics and trade is an important imperative. At the “Global Supply Chain Resilience” meeting in October 2021, Modi advocated cooperation on three critical aspects — trusted source, transparency and time frame — to improve global supply chains. At the SCO Summit this year, he cited the disruption of supply chains due to the Ukraine crisis and spoke of the unprecedented energy and food crises.
Digital India
India’s commitment to digital transformation will be a key element in forging an accessible and inclusive digital public architecture. The country’s exemplary success with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Direct Benefits Transfer and Aadhaar authentication in welfare schemes has growing relevance to the developing world. The use of the CoWIN platform enhanced vaccine accessibility and equity. India has made a strong pitch for a TRIPS waiver to ensure equitable access to vaccine production. As economies everywhere move rapidly towards digitalisation, it is important to develop a consensus on an open source, open application programming interface (API) and an interoperable framework for public digital platforms on which the private sector can freely innovate. This would help maximise the impact of the digital transformation for the global public good, including new data, measurement tools, indicators of economic growth and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
COP26 and India
The climate challenge is sure to be one of the significant themes for India’s presidency. The country’s clean energy transition and global climate mitigation efforts demonstrate the commitment of its leaders at the highest level. At the COP26 in Glasgow, Modi proposed Mission LiFE, which places individual behaviour at the centre of the global climate action narrative. The Mission intends to establish and nurture a global network of individuals known as Pro-Planet People (P3), committed to adopting and promoting environmentally friendly lifestyles. This is based on the idea that responsible individual behaviour can undo the damage wrought upon nature.
With the global population expected to cross eight billion this year, one is reminded of Gandhi’s caution, that the world has enough for everybody’s needs but not for everyone’s greed. At COP27 as well as during its G20 presidency, India will have to focus attention on climate finance, especially a new quantified goal beyond the existing annual $100 billion pledge by Advanced Economies (AEs) to assist developing nations in climate change adaptation and mitigation from 2020 to 2025. The delayed pledge is expected to be fulfilled in 2023 during India’s presidency and from there on, the G20 needs to raise the bar
Panchamrit announcements
PM Modi’s “Panchamrit” announcements at COP26 — net zero by 2070, non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030, 50 per cent of energy requirement through renewables by 2030, reduction of carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes by 2030, and reduction of carbon intensity in the Indian economy to less than 45 per cent by 2030 — established India as a climate leader. The G20 presidency will provide India with an opportunity to give impetus to several of its initiatives for clean energy partnerships — especially in solar, wind and hydrogen — with the EU, Japan and the US. It will provide a platform to give a fillip to the idea of, “One Sun, One World, One Grid”, first mooted by Modi at the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in 2018.
Clean Energy & SDGs
Clean Energy & SDGs
Clean energy and the achievement of SDGs can be mutually reinforcing. Green hydrogen can replace fossil fuels on an industrial scale, including in hard-to-abate sectors such as refineries, fertilisers, transport and cement. India has the scale and capacity to set a shining example of rapid and decarbonised economic growth to help realise the G20’s global net zero ambitions. A viable international framework for development and international trade in GH2, together with green ammonia and green shipping, is the key. Reliable supplies of critical minerals and technological collaborations for energy storage, including a global battery coalition, could provide answers. Given the nascent support today for civilian nuclear energy in Europe due to energy market volatility, the G20 could work toward an expanded and robust civilian nuclear energy cooperation framework, including for small modular reactors. Multilateral institutions are perceived today as unrepresentative, ineffective, or worse still, both. The call for a new multilateralism and reassessment of the Global Financial Order to ensure adequate credit enhancement and blended finance for sustainable green transitions reflects a popular global sentiment.
now what next
India’s global initiatives in recent years such as SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in The Region), “blue economy”, “clean oceans”, and disaster-resilient infrastructure have the potential to gain traction in the G20. India’s presidency should represent the widest and most vulnerable constituencies, especially in South Asia. This can truly advance intra-South Asian economic integration, which is so essential for India’s rise.
MAINS QUE
How can India present its potential to the world at the G20 summit? What are the potential areas where India has an opportunity to build global cooperation during its presidency of the G20?
Q. In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of G20? (2020)
(a) Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey
(b) Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand
(c) Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam
(d) Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea
Ans: (a)
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