‘India will take up challenges of growth, jobs, climate during its G20 presidency’ | India News
Sherpas from G20 countries have converged in Udaipur for the first meeting under India’s presidency. Ahead of the discussions to set the agenda for the next few months, India’s Sherpa Amitabh Kant discusses the key issues and themes with TOI ’s Sidhartha& Surojit Gupta . Excerpts from the interview:
What will be the key issues during India’s presidency?
India will take up all issues that are posing a challenge to the global economy. By the time India takes over the presidency, there will be a looming crisis of growth, there will be slowdown of economies across different continents and therefore, first and foremost, our challenge would be to focus on inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth for all.
This leads us to the second big challenge of the world, with 200 million people going below the poverty line and 75 million people having lost their jobs due to Covid. The challenge for the world is – how do we accelerate the pace of sustainable development goals as we will be midway through the 2030 agenda. Also, how you provide better learning outcomes, better health outcomes, better nutrition are key challenges for the world?The third key challenge will be climate. Finance (would be a challenge) because the developed world has occupied all the carbon space available. Almost 85% of the carbon space available for 1. 5 degree celsius has been occupied by the developed world. In 2009, they had committed to providing developing countries $100 billion a year. This commitment has not been adequately provided for. This issue will come up centrestage for discussion. Linked to this will also be the issue of reforms of multilateral institutions for the 21st century.
PM Narendra Modi has repeatedly said that we should talk about the India narrative during the G20 presidency — India has carried out a vast amount of digital transformation through the digital public infrastructure, which is a unique model that is very distinct from the big tech model of the USand the GDPR model of Europe. Other countries, particularly developing countries, can benefit from that.
The other big narrative can be on what India has done in health as the pharmacy of the world, as the vaccine capital of the world – how it did CoWin vaccination which is cashless and paperless, how itprovided insurance to 500 million Indians, which is cashless and paper less, and how it converged Ayurveda and yoga with the modern elements of medicine. Since we are the mother of all democracies, how do we use that to project the soft power of India. One key emphasis that the PM has laid out is that we should focus on women-led development. The Sherpas meet in Udaipur would probably set thetone for discussions in the next 10-12 months.
What should we watch out for from Udaipur?
We are thefirst country that has circulated all its issue notes 15 days ahead of the summit and laid down what our priorities are. These will all be subjected to discussion and we will remain focused on developmental issues. There are a vast number of issues. There are 13 working group tracks, eight finance tracks, 20 engagement groups. All of these would converge and integrate towards the leaders’ memorandum. Our priorities are futuristic, progressive and forward-looking.
Is there a need to expand G20? There have been calls for including other countries as well …
G20 is unique because unlike the UN, it’s not unwieldy. G7 is too elitist. G20 is the
right mix of developed and emerging markets. It’s cohesive, it has the ability to arrive at a settlement and decide. It’s a compact body. It could probably take one or two members from Africa to make it broader. But broadly, it’s all there.
What does the G20 presidency mean for India’s evolution now?
It’s a historic and pathbreaking moment. Since Independence, we have been giving remarks and comments to agendas by the developed world. We have never shaped an agenda. This is the first time the agenda is being shaped by an emerging country, taking the perspective and views of the developing world.
We have become the voice of the developing world. The PM is setting the agenda for the entire world. It is for the world to react to that agenda.
Do you see evolving consensus as a big challenge, given that G20 membership is divided on several issues?
There are challenges. There’s a challenge of consensus, of war, of food and fuel, of climate action. I am optimistic that we will find a solution to all these challenges during India’s presidency.
What will be the key issues during India’s presidency?
India will take up all issues that are posing a challenge to the global economy. By the time India takes over the presidency, there will be a looming crisis of growth, there will be slowdown of economies across different continents and therefore, first and foremost, our challenge would be to focus on inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth for all.
This leads us to the second big challenge of the world, with 200 million people going below the poverty line and 75 million people having lost their jobs due to Covid. The challenge for the world is – how do we accelerate the pace of sustainable development goals as we will be midway through the 2030 agenda. Also, how you provide better learning outcomes, better health outcomes, better nutrition are key challenges for the world?The third key challenge will be climate. Finance (would be a challenge) because the developed world has occupied all the carbon space available. Almost 85% of the carbon space available for 1. 5 degree celsius has been occupied by the developed world. In 2009, they had committed to providing developing countries $100 billion a year. This commitment has not been adequately provided for. This issue will come up centrestage for discussion. Linked to this will also be the issue of reforms of multilateral institutions for the 21st century.
PM Narendra Modi has repeatedly said that we should talk about the India narrative during the G20 presidency — India has carried out a vast amount of digital transformation through the digital public infrastructure, which is a unique model that is very distinct from the big tech model of the USand the GDPR model of Europe. Other countries, particularly developing countries, can benefit from that.
The other big narrative can be on what India has done in health as the pharmacy of the world, as the vaccine capital of the world – how it did CoWin vaccination which is cashless and paperless, how itprovided insurance to 500 million Indians, which is cashless and paper less, and how it converged Ayurveda and yoga with the modern elements of medicine. Since we are the mother of all democracies, how do we use that to project the soft power of India. One key emphasis that the PM has laid out is that we should focus on women-led development. The Sherpas meet in Udaipur would probably set thetone for discussions in the next 10-12 months.
What should we watch out for from Udaipur?
We are thefirst country that has circulated all its issue notes 15 days ahead of the summit and laid down what our priorities are. These will all be subjected to discussion and we will remain focused on developmental issues. There are a vast number of issues. There are 13 working group tracks, eight finance tracks, 20 engagement groups. All of these would converge and integrate towards the leaders’ memorandum. Our priorities are futuristic, progressive and forward-looking.
Is there a need to expand G20? There have been calls for including other countries as well …
G20 is unique because unlike the UN, it’s not unwieldy. G7 is too elitist. G20 is the
right mix of developed and emerging markets. It’s cohesive, it has the ability to arrive at a settlement and decide. It’s a compact body. It could probably take one or two members from Africa to make it broader. But broadly, it’s all there.
What does the G20 presidency mean for India’s evolution now?
It’s a historic and pathbreaking moment. Since Independence, we have been giving remarks and comments to agendas by the developed world. We have never shaped an agenda. This is the first time the agenda is being shaped by an emerging country, taking the perspective and views of the developing world.
We have become the voice of the developing world. The PM is setting the agenda for the entire world. It is for the world to react to that agenda.
Do you see evolving consensus as a big challenge, given that G20 membership is divided on several issues?
There are challenges. There’s a challenge of consensus, of war, of food and fuel, of climate action. I am optimistic that we will find a solution to all these challenges during India’s presidency.
