India takes G20 leadership; Ministries seek ideas for agenda action
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, November 19: With India taking over the Presidentship of G20 on December 1 for a year, several ministries have been asked to share ideas for inclusion in the agenda for the multilateral agencies. The mood in the government is buoyant to turn the occasion into a mega event to leave an Indian imprint on the multilateral agency.
“We were asked to submit ideas such as what our ministry can do for the G20. This has been asked with several ministries. After deliberations with the officials, each ministry within its mandate will be submitting ideas which may have international significance and can be acted upon,” said a senior official.
G20 is a grouping of 19 developed and developing countries, besides the European Union (EU), and the grouping principally has an economic agenda. Since economy has an interplay with several other issues such as climate change and security scenario, the G20 deliberations veer around on non-core areas.
In Bali, Indonesia, the G20 had come under the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine War, and the economic agenda nearly was derailed, with the G7 countries making a push for the adoption of a political statement. However, Indonesia and India worked together to broker a middle ground and given space to the voice of G7 and Russia in the joint statement issued at the conclusion of the Summit.
“The ideas that the ministries have discussed include a strong push for economic concerns and trade along with concrete actions on climate change. India will also be making a key push to sustainable development by sharing the success stories from adoption of organic farming, promotion of the farmers producer’s organisation to achieve food security, inclusiveness as well since the government has worked for the participation of the women in the welfare measures and central schemes,” added the official.
With India bracing to host over 200 events in the course of one year, the ministries such as Tourism, Culture, Commerce, Textile, Food and consumer affairs, Agriculture are likely to host a number of programmes. India will also be aiming to deepen ties with the G20 constituents and showcase its achievements in relations with small island nations in contrast to the debt-trap strategy of China, which had brought economic perils to about 60 countries in South Asia, Africa and Latin America. The blending of the soft power for economic ties, while a concerted push on the technology and financial support for the adoption of clean energy sources is likely to be the key thrust area of India’s G20 Presidentship.
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