Why Delhi Shows the Way: India’s G20 Presidency Has Been a Landmark

Why in News?

• The G20 multilateral carries a heavy responsibility, especially as the United Nations is no longer seen to be a global problem-solver.
• The voice of emerging powers must be heard and India’s G20 presidency is the first step on that course.
• Inclusion of African Union as a permanent G20 member is one of many significant success of India’s G20 presidency.

Highlights of the 18^th G20 New Delhi Summit

• The 18th G20 Leaders’ Summit meeting has started on a positive note, with the strengthening bilateral of two important G20 members host India and the US.
• This bilateral meeting is reinforced by business deals, defence partnerships and leader-to-leader bonhomie.
• There will be other bilateral meetings which will be similarly strong.

Key Agendas Set by India for 18^th G20 Summit

• To Address the Global Crises
  • India’s goals for the year are international, domestic, and specific to G20. Its presidency began with two parallel crises — the overhang of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
  • Both crises affected economies and geopolitics. On the pandemic, India had a head start, having managed the Covid-19 crisis well, and making pandemic preparedness the focus of its presidency.
  • Health is part of India’s domestic agenda too, so this particular global crisis received the three-dimensional attention it needed for 2023.
  • India will carry the successful health track experience into the Brazilian and South African presidencies too.
• To Take a Leadership Position in Digital Inclusion
  • The presidency year was used to take a leadership position in digital inclusion, through digital public infrastructure (DPI), India’s unique offering for the G20.
  • Like health, this has been tested on a continental scale, with success. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is now available in nearly two dozen countries, and innovations based on it, especially with small businesses, are thriving.
  • Strong resistance from private players in the US and Chinese state companies is to be expected — but the value proposition is compelling and persuasive.
• Maintaining a Fine Balance on Russia-Ukraine War
  • On the matter of the Russia-Ukraine war, 2023 will be remembered as the year of the Great Divide, as developed and developing worlds are separated over issues of ideology and economic necessity.
  • A regional border disagreement has been aggravated by ignoring legitimate Russian security interests, forcing countries to take sides.
  • India has maintained a fine balance, managing its relationship with Russia, and even enhancing its bilateral with the US.
  • It was evident from the extravagant welcome and many agreements signed during Indian PM’s state visit to Washington DC in June.
• Democratising the G20 Process
  • India has democratised the G20 process from intention and necessity.
  • Running it in the spirit of a colourful festival, taking it to different cities across the country creates curiosity about an external event in a land which has largely been inward-looking.
  • The rigorous policy emphasis is educative for bureaucrats and politicians presiding over a domestic transformation. 

Challenges Before the G20 Summit: Disagreements Between G7 and G20 On Key Issues

• Within the G20, the G7 is pulling in a different direction on many important fronts.
• These include the Russia-Ukraine war, the reform of the multilateral financial architecture, debt forgiveness, digitalisation, energy and climate commitments and trade.
• The G7 is outnumbered on these issues by other members in the G20 who seek an end to the conflict, an equitable decision on debt and climate commitments, a new model of DPI, and a focus on human capital-centric trade.
• There was hope that Japan, as the G7 President, would work together with its Asian partner India, the G20 President, to ease the fissures. But this has not fructified.
• And so, the prevailing multilateral leadership remains unyielding, unwilling to accept the aspirations of the emerging order, and be a partner in writing the new global rules.

How could India Navigate these Challenges and Make G20 Summit a Success?

• As the G20 is not a treaty alliance, none of what the G20 proposes, or its outcomes, have to be adopted by its members.
• It is a forum for dialogue and cooperation and is also now the platform best suited to adjust for, and accommodate, a world in transition.
• Excellent diplomatic efforts by India will provide a chance to reach an agreement.
• Though there will be fewer agreements between the G7 and the rest of the G20, increased association between the G20 and the Global South(which has long been kept out of a process run by the most powerful) has been India’s success.

Does this Mean India will be Less Rule-taker, and a More Equitable Rule-maker?

• India is like a good rule-taking student, it has an 87 per cent compliance with the Bali Summit’s priority commitments, on par with Argentina and not so far from the EU’s 97 per cent score.
• Investors say India needs to be more material to global outcomes and incomes, to gain influence as a rule-maker.
• If absorbed well, the experience of its G20 presidency will certainly take the country and its cohorts along that path.

Way Ahead for the G20

• Efforts to create a more equitable multilateral order will continue for the next two G20 presidencies led by Brazil and South Africa.
• The India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) grouping already has a trilateral agenda in place, a good portion of which now overlaps with the G20 agenda.
• There are expectations from this troika to collaborate in health, digital inclusion, a reformed or new financial architecture, debt relief, sustainable lifestyle for climate goals, women-led development models.

Conclusion

• The pivot between India and the governments of both developed and developing countries, has taken place and extensive diplomacy has tied all the threads together.
• With the inclusion of the African Union, as proposed by India, India will become the voice of the global south and this achievement alone marks the success of 18^th G20 New Delhi Summit under India’s Presidency.

Q1) What is the Global Biofuel Alliance?

GBA is an India-led Initiative to develop an alliance of Governments, International organisations and Industry to facilitate adoption of biofuels through international cooperation. It aims at bringing together the biggest consumers and producers of biofuels to drive biofuels sustainable development and deployment, the initiative aims to position biofuels as a key to energy transition and contribute to jobs and economic growth. GBA will offer capacity-building exercises across the value chain, technical support for national programs and promoting policy lessons-sharing.

Q2) What is Part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII)?

Part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII) is the rail and shipping corridor is part of the PGII. PGII is a collaborative effort by G7 nations to fund infrastructure projects in developing nations. This project is also called a green and digital bridge across continents and civilizations. The plan seeks to bolster trade between India, the Middle East as well as Europe. It will establish a modern-day Spice Route to bind regions that account for about a third of the global economy.

Source: The Indian Express