Editorial: G20 presidency, India’s moment

At a time when the world is passing through turmoil marked by military conflicts, economic uncertainty and the aftereffects of the devastating pandemic, India is set to take the helm of the G20, an informal grouping comprising 19 countries and the European union (EU). India assuming the G20 presidency, from December 1 this year till […]

At a time when the world is passing through turmoil marked by military conflicts, economic uncertainty and the aftereffects of the devastating pandemic, India is set to take the helm of the G20, an informal grouping comprising 19 countries and the European union (EU). India assuming the G20 presidency, from December 1 this year till November 30, 2023, is a testimony to its growing clout in international geopolitics. With it comes a plethora of challenges. A major task is to set the ball rolling to reform the G20, formulate strategies to reduce inequalities, reshape the global green agenda and prevent debt-related crises. During its presidency, New Delhi will host 200 meetings of the forum across the country. India’s leadership at the grouping comes at an inflection point in contemporary history when the global community is facing multiple challenges politically and economically. The Ukraine conflict has vitiated the relations between Russia and the industrialised western countries, most of them being the members of the G20. The presidency places a great responsibility on India’s shoulders, not only to advocate its own agenda, but also to chart a path that is beneficial to the populations of fellow developing countries that are currently torn between the machinations of global powers, economic headwinds and adverse impacts of the climate crisis. India is positioned uniquely in the world as a country that understands the priorities of the developed countries and appreciates the challenges and ambitions of the developing world, allowing it to act as a bridge to meet expectations.

India’s decades-long championing of the causes of the global South and poorer nations allowed it to become a leader of developing countries. Being at the helm of G20 now, it needs to work towards making the group more representative and far more cohesive than it is today. Rotating membership would throw open the doors of the group to a much wider set of countries. Though the G20 was designed to be more inclusive than the G7, it is still not inclusive enough. The selection of temporary members should ideally be based on transparent criteria such as economic size or population. The substantive challenges that must be addressed include rising unsustainable debt of a large number of middle and low-income countries; continuing significant underperformance in the delivery of the climate financing pledged by wealthy countries who have historically disproportionately negatively impacted the environment over a long period; fiscal and other challenges of the green energy transition and global food insecurity. The world is now moving towards multipolarity and rebalancing. As is evident in its simultaneous presidency of the G20 and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, India remains ready to engage with all sides and unafraid to secure its wide range of interests.

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