Anushruti Singh
On December 1, India formally assumed the G20 presidency. The G-20 logo was specially illuminated on 100 centrally protected monuments, including UNESCO world heritage sites. During this year’s presidency, India will host 200 meetings in over 50 cities across the country in 32 different sectors.
In his commentary, PM Modi committed to work onto promote universal sense of one-ness. Hence the theme is – ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’.
India’s presidency of the G20 will be a ‘watershed moment’ in its history as the country seeks to play an important role in finding pragmatic global solutions for the well-being of all.
G20 Presidency: A watershed moment
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj Kamboj stressed that India’s presidency would be a “watershed moment in her history” as it seeks to play an important role in finding pragmatic global solutions for the well-being of all and in doing so, to manifest the true spirit of the world being one large family, very much a part of Indian ethos.
Kamboj said that India sees both the presidencies – that of the Security Council for this month and the G20 for the next year, as a “new responsibility”.
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“We will try our utmost to show that the hopes and expectations of the global community are met,” said the President of the Security Council for December.
She adds that its an honour for the country to lead a group that represents 85 per cent of the world’s GDP and 75 per cent of global trade. And the presidency of the G20 comes at a time of crises and chaos in the world.
“The world is going through the after-effects of a disruptive, once-in-a-century pandemic, conflicts and much economic uncertainty. At such a time, the world looks to G20 with much hope,” she told reporters at the UN headquarters here on the programme of work for the month and India’s priorities as it presides over the Council this month.
In response to a question, Kamboj said the effort during the G20 presidency “will be to keep the unity because India truly believes that the world is one large family”. “And to this end, we bring people-centric solutions to the table and we will continue to do that during the course of the presidency,” she said.
IMF supports India’s G20 agenda
The IMF says it “fully supports” the G20 agenda of India, which is planning to use the ongoing global crises as an opportunity to seek consensus on issues that require urgent attention, a senior official from the international financial body has said.
“They (India) are putting together a collective agenda for a much more prosperous future,” Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Director of the Strategy and Policy Review department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), told a group of reporters ahead of her trip to China and India next week.
“They (India) plan to use the ongoing (global) crises as an opportunity to seek consensus on issues that really require urgent attention,” she said on December 1.
It will boost global economy, open internet
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai reacting on the G20 presidency said that India taking over the G20 Presidency will be an amazing opportunity to build consensus on strengthening the global economy by advancing an internet that is open, connected, secure and works for everyone.
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“India is a part of me. I carry it with me wherever I go. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that cherished learning and knowledge, with parents who sacrificed a lot to make sure I had opportunities to explore my interests,” Pichai said in a blog post late on Friday.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ vision has certainly been an accelerator, “and I’m proud that Google continues to invest in India, partnering with governments, businesses and communities over two transformative decades”.
Google recently announced to invest $10 billion in India’s digital future, working to enable more affordable internet access, building products for India’s unique needs, helping businesses of all sizes in their digital transformation, and using AI to tackle big societal challenges.
G20 is a great opportunity for us
“India’s G20 presidency will be inclusive, ambitious, and action-oriented,” PMs statement is a clear indication of India’s principled position with regard to its priorities for leading this important global platform, says Population Foundation of India’s Executive Director Poonam Muttreja.
The year 2023 will also see India’s population surpassing China’s, making us the most populous nation in the world. “We know population as an issue will be under the spotlight next year. It will be important for the Indian leadership to ensure that there is right discourse around population and development. There is global commitment to increasing investment in population stabilization and around two-thirds of the world’s people live in the G20 countries. Population Foundation of India welcomes India taking over the G20 leadership from Indonesia for the next one year,” she adds.
Data from NFHS-5 shows that India has already reached replacement level fertility – at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next, along with slowing down of population growth rate – which will help in stabilising the population in some time.
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This has been made possible by the progress India has made at several levels, from improving reproductive health services, making maternity safer, ensuring child survival, making information and services on family planning available, working towards a gender-equal society, increasing age at marriage, striving for education of adolescents, particularly girls and addressing patriarchal norms which compromise women’s status in society among many other measures.
Muttreja said, “The G20 is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate India’s leadership in all spheres, particularly in the provision of health and family planning services, and ensuring the rights of people to information and services are realized. This is an opportunity to reimagine the future of India’s public health and provide a healthy and happy life for all. It is imperative that we bring the public into public health.”
