Leading the likes of G20 and New Delhi

The clock is ticking. India will eclipse for the first time in about three months Group of 20 (G20) The year-long presidency, from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023, will end with the G20 summit in India in 2023. In the following months, India will host over 200 meetings with hundreds of ministers, officials, diplomats, businessmen, NGOs. , the G20 working group and participation group made up of 19 powerful economies and the European Union (EU).

India has hosted major international conferences such as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in 1983 and the third India-Africa Forum summit in 2015. But nothing compares with hosting the G20. It is the world’s informal governing directorate on global economic issues; It emphasizes the responsibility of shaping decision-making on the major challenges facing the world today; And before its summit there is a large amount of preliminary deliberations that add up to the final outcome.

importance, complications

It is essential that the importance of the G20’s work is neither overemphasized nor underestimated. G20 membership represents about 90% of the world’s GDP, 80% of global trade and 67% of the planet’s population. It is an advisory body, not a treaty-based forum and, therefore, its decisions are recommendations to its own members.

The weight of this powerful membership carries enormous political and economic implications. The representation of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization and other multilateral institutions makes the G20 an incomparable body.

The G20 has played an important role in addressing financial and economic challenges such as the global financial crisis of 2008-09 and the Eurozone crisis of 2010. The Forum was elevated from Finance Ministers to Heads of Government/State in 2008. This was the era of the G8 (until 2014 when Russia was suspended), of the major powers – the United States, the European Union, Russia and China, but with emerging economies in defining and framing them for global challenges. There was a need to work together. Solution.

However, in this second decade of the G20, the platform is facing an existential crisis where the dominant powers have been exhausted. This presidency complicates the task of the country, as the current President (Indonesia) is looking for.

The devastating impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine, India-China border tensions, EU/US-Russia hostilities, and deteriorating US-China relations are already visible at the 2022 Bali summit (in November). Where not all the leaders of the G20 are physically sitting in the same room. The outcome in Bali will influence the Delhi summit. Indian officials are thus carefully planning their strategy as the burden and prestige of the presidency is bestowed upon India. They are well aware that the currents of geopolitics are redefining the contours of geoeconomics today. His mission will be to save not only the G20, but also the future of multilateral cooperation in the diverse areas of the group’s multi-pronged agenda.

India’s options

Inspired by the triple motivation of promoting India’s national interest, making its mark on the G20 and maintaining its primacy as an effective instrument of global governance, four distinct ideas have emerged in New Delhi.

First, the G20 presidency offers a unique branding opportunity for India’s recent achievements, including vaccine support and ability to effectively combat COVID-19 at home and abroad through diplomacy. Other major achievements are India’s digital revolution, its continued progress in switching to renewable energy, meeting its goals to combat climate change, and its thrust for self-reliance in building and reshaping global value chains. New trends in entrepreneurship, business innovation, the rise of many start-ups in the form of unicorns, and gender advancement also need to be showcased. A one-year presidency does not empower the host to change the world, but India can provide evidence of domestic successes, tested on a continental scale, for global adoption. It can also be used to transform India’s sub-optimal physical infrastructure to make it an attractive investment and tourism destination, especially as several important G20 meetings will be held outside Delhi.

Second, by a remarkable coincidence, four democracies are on their way to becoming powerful economic players – Indonesia, India, Brazil and South Africa – with presidencies from December 2021 to November 2025. It provides a rare opportunity to pursue synergy and solidarity. To emphasize the interests of the developing world and their joint leadership of the Global South.

Third, another extraordinary coincidence is that all three members of IBSA – India, Brazil and South Africa – will chair the G20 consecutively in 2023, 2024 and 2025. BRICS (where these three countries need to work with Russia and China), can develop an integrated plan to project the priority concerns of the Global South. IBSA needs an immediate rejuvenation on the sidelines of the Bali summit, perhaps by convening an informal meeting of its top leaders.

Fourth, India needs to be ready to emerge as the main global diplomat. As Chair of the G20, India will be obliged to take a comprehensive approach to the G20 agenda to synthesize the divergent interests of all constituents of the forum: the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, jointly developed under the G7 flag world, the five BRICS members, and other G20 members such as Argentina and Mexico. More importantly, as President and host, India must take into account the views of countries that are not represented in the G20. India will advocate for an inclusive approach with practical and human-centric solutions to global issues. An important objective should be to end the marginalization of Africa by elevating the African Union (AU) from a permanent observer to a full member of the G20, thus placing it at par with the European Union.

a parting thought

These four options are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to link them together to form a holistic and comprehensive approach to the Indian presidency of the G20. The challenge is to combine an India-centric approach, promote the vital interests of the global South, and demonstrate diplomatic acumen to communicate and reconcile the views of rival and rival power centers such as the West, Russia and China. India is in a position to deliver this unique package today. You should rise to the occasion.

Rajeev Bhatia, former Ambassador, is the Distinguished Fellow of Gateway House. He is also a writer who writes regularly on multilateral governance.