It really is a Big Year for India.
With the G20 meetings scheduled round the year, thoughtfully spread all over the country, Delegates being hosted in beautiful, scenic surroundings and the Summit due later this year, It Is Definitely India’s Moment of Pride. One of the meetings was far away in the Swaraj Deep, formerly Havelock Island in the picturesque Andaman & Nicobar islands, not far from Indonesia or Malaysia or Singapore. (I had spent a week in the region long back and the memory of turquoise waters is inviting me back).
The Prime Minister, External Affairs minister, Finance Minister, personally, and the Ministry of External Affairs and the G20 diplomats and authorities do really deserve the kudos for organising events, presentation of ideas and proposals that consider mutual understandings as well as outcomes. Global economy, impact of Covid 19 pandemic, global warming and rapid climate change, sustainable development, financial stability, everything is being given due attention with positive response from the representatives of 19 countries and European Union that comprise the powerful grouping.
Such huge meetings have huge spinoffs also.
Notably, the G20, or Group of 20, accounts for 75 percent of global trade and 60 percent of the land, with a substantial share of the global South.
The G20 countries are also responsible for 80 percent of the Gross Word Product, and include some of the richest countries like the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates among its members. A key reason for setting up the G20 in 1999 was to cooperate and coordinate in measures for international financial stability. That theme stays, and there is also vigourous attention on the terrible impact of Covid 19 which respects no boundaries.
The evolution of QUAD in response to China’s aggressive attitude against its neighbours, threat to invade Taiwan, and the continuing crisis over Russia’s attack on Ukraine are on G20’s table, some formally and some on the side lines. There is no end in sight for the one-year old war.
A key development on the QUAD front was an offer by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida, during his recent visit to New Delhi, to strengthen the region’s defences with an additional $ 75 bn.
As my distinguished friend Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar says in the Cover Story: Assuming charge of the G20 at this critical moment has been a huge challenge for India. The world is looking at India with hope and expectation to effectively deal with the turbulence engineered by the Covid-19, Russia-Ukraine conflict, global economic downturn, and climate change. India is committed to reach out to all countries, as PM Modi says, “to convey a strong message of peace to the world.”
G20 is indeed India’s Moment of Pride, and also a great opportunity.
— Gulshan Rai Luthra
