Written By Darshan M (Grade 10)
India takes over the G20 presidency for a year which includes the world’s 20 most powerful countries and the whole world is looking at India with hope. What is G20 and why will 2023 be a crucial year for India?
What is G20?
G20 means a group of 20 and these countries that represent 60% of the world’s population account for 75% of world trade and 85% of the world’s GDP. India is G20’s president from December 2022 to November 2023. This presidency is rotated between members every year three countries are responsible to push the G20 agenda the past president – Indonesia, the current president – India, and the future president – Brazil. Before G20, there was another group which was called the G7 they included all developed countries but western countries only take care of their interests they only understand their economy, but in a globalized world things happening in one part of the world can impact other parts of the world.
Let’s take the 2008 financial crisis. This crisis was majorly in the US but the rest of the world faced the recession. Similarly, in 1997 there was a financial crisis in Southeast Asia which did begin in Thailand and spread all across Asia. So in the year 1999, although the G7 still exists the G20 was established. Because these G7 countries realized that international cooperation was necessary but only after the 2008 financial crisis did world leaders started taking this seriously after they started meeting seriously and started having productive discussions.
India’s plan for the G20 is to host over 200 meetings in one year with participation from 30 different sectors India is the president of G20 for this year and by the virtue of that our country enjoys certain powers for example, India can invite those countries who are not a part of G20. With this small move, we can establish good international relations. India has already invited the UAE as a guest for the G20. UAE is an important strategic partner for India, along with UAE, India has invited several other countries like Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Singapore, Netherlands, Mauritius, Oman, and Spain.
Our external affairs minister is one of our favourites and he made a very important statement that India is emerging as the leader of the global south. The global north includes developed western countries and the global south includes all the developing countries. India’s Prime Minister said at the G20 Bali summit that multilateral institutions like UNO, WHO, and WTO are failing because they give preference to the interests of the global north or the developed countries.
India is in a situation today where India can talk to Russia, we can speak to Saudi Arabia and we have good relations with the US. Our diplomacy has seen a revival in the past several years and we have to take advantage of this. Next year is an important opportunity for India to establish our leadership to raise the right issues at meetings.
Why is 2023 so important?
Why is 2023 so important to India? A lot of people say that the G20 presidency is allotted to all member countries on rotation and it would come to India at some point or the other what is the big deal in it? India hasn’t achieved anything by taking over the G20 presidency and partially they are correct. Getting the G20 presidency is not a big deal but it is important how we take care and move on with it.
For example, last year Qatar hosted the FIFA World cup and which is the most expensive world cup to be hosted. To host this world cup, Qatar built a lot of infrastructure which will only incur losses. So why are they hosting it? Hosting a world cup in Qatar is important for them because people from other countries have an eye on that small country, this gives Qatar an excellent opportunity to show their progress to the world to orient people by their culture and traditions and India’s G20 presidency will be somewhat like that it is time for us to show the world who we are.
The world shows how we fail very well. 2022 only saw India’s burning pyres and with only negative news on the country, it creates a global impression that nothing good can happen in that country. But the truth is that we are making huge progress in green energy our fintech is the most advanced globally but we never show our advances to the world we focus only on our shortcomings and failures. With the G20 presidency, we can show the world that we are not just a big market we are a competitive force that can shake the world.
2022 has changed the global order because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and due to the Russia-Ukraine war a lot of issues came to light. European countries did not have energy security and that’s why they are using dirty fuels like coal, oil, and gas. Ukraine and Russia both are top wheat producers and because of this situation, there is an issue of food security worldwide. There has never been a time when the world’s inequalities have been more visible when you see things from afar some things are quite clear some countries run the world and now they are scared because their dominance is under threat and they can and will do anything to reclaim their dominance.
Today India has a chance to bring these issues forward to share our stories with the world and to take talks towards equitable solutions. There was an all-party meeting held initially where leaders from different parties came together. We learned an important point then that parties can be opposed in internal politics but we’ll have to come in front of the world as a united India because only then will the citizens benefit.
Many meetings have already been held in various parts of the country where delegates from different countries got to witness our vibrant traditions and culture. They also experienced our digital payment revolution international dignitaries made payments with UPI they learned how simple UPI is because this one simple move will help UPI to go global.
The world is one family, India had quoted this for centuries and it is our responsibility to host this big G20 family. Now, how we make use of this opportunity will determine how our next decade goes because this presidency is a presidency of hope, and even today people think that we are a land of snake charmers now we have a chance to change the world’s perception of India and its culture this is a chance to forget all differences and share a positive message with the world.
Featured Image Courtesy – NDTV.com
