India pushes G20 agenda that caters to developing countries' interests

India is making a concerted effort to showcase its capacity in various economic and technological fields such as digital public infrastructure, tourism and health, and present new ideas to other countries for collaboration.

Al Majalla

India is making a concerted effort to make the G20 summit in Delhi a success. It wants to turn the focus from the Ukraine war to instead focus on issues like global financial forms and debt relief.

India pushes G20 agenda that caters to developing countries' interests

Shakir Husain

last update on 07 Sep 2023

There is expected to be plenty of wrangling on the Russia-Ukraine conflict when leaders of the Group of 20 representing the world's largest economies gather for their summit in New Delhi on 9 and 10 September.

The prevailing acrimony and lack of consensus on this issue means the summit must find other issues on which the leaders can display a semblance of public unity.

Early indications are that discussions on climate, global financial reforms, debt relief for developing countries, technological cooperation, food and energy security, and post-pandemic economic recovery would help lower geopolitical tensions during the meetings.

No clear-cut reasons are available why Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping decided against travelling to New Delhi, but it is no secret that the two countries have been uneasy about Western rigidity on the Ukraine issue.

The G20 — created in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis as a platform for finance ministers and central bank chiefs — holds annual leadership summits and considers itself the "premier forum for international economic cooperation".

China would like the group to concentrate on its role in the global economy, but the rival argument is that major geopolitical issues cannot be brushed aside when leaders of the world's strongest industrialised and developing countries gather in one place.

REUTERS — An armed security force personnel stands guard outside the Le Meridien hotel ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, September 7, 2023.

The lack of consensus on the Ukraine war means the summit must find other issues on which the leaders can display a semblance of public unity. As such, great emphasis will be placed on issues such as: climate, global financial reforms, debt relief for developing countries, technological cooperation, food and energy security, and post-pandemic economic recovery.

A test for India

For the host country, there is more than national prestige at stake if no consensus is reached on a joint communique or Leaders' Declaration.

From the beginning, the Indian G20 presidency has advertised the event as a showcase of its rising status in the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his ministers and other officials have sought to project the G20's hosting as an achievement to both domestic and foreign audiences.

Modi, in an interview with the PTI news agency, spoke about the "many positive impacts" India's G20 presidency has produced.

"The shift to a human-centric approach has begun globally and we are playing the role of a catalyst. The effort towards greater inclusion for the global south, especially Africa in global affairs has gained momentum," he said.

"India's G20 Presidency has also sowed the seeds of confidence in the countries of the so-called 'Third World'. They are gaining greater confidence to shape the direction of the world in the coming years on many issues such as climate change and global institutional reforms," he added.

While there is the realisation that a consensus will be difficult to reach on Ukraine, Indian officials have highlighted the issues that appeal to developing countries and bolster India's image.

AFP — A G20 emblem is placed on the crown of a building illuminated with the tri-colours of the Indian national flag ahead of the leaders' summit in New Delhi on September 7, 2023.

There is a concerted effort to showcase India's capacity in various economic and technological fields such as digital public infrastructure, tourism and health, and present new ideas to other countries for collaboration.

On the cultural front, there is so much in dance performances, promotion of traditional cures, cuisine and G20 hoardings that would appeal to the ruling party's nationalist base and generate more electoral support.

India hopes the advocacy of issues that matter to the global south will earn it long-term goodwill as well as burnish its credentials for playing a bigger geopolitical role.

"We are at the pinnacle of our diplomatic initiatives," Muktesh Pardeshi, who heads the operations and logistics of India's G20 Secretariat, told the local media.

"We have to showcase India in its all dimensions — hospitality, tourism, as well as progress in the technological sector," Pardeshi said.

He considers the September 9-10 summit a more significant event than the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, and the India-Africa summit hosted by New Delhi in the past.

Media interviews have been carefully organised to put forth a polished image of India in the run-up to the weekend summit.

India is making a concerted effort to showcase its capacity in various economic and technological fields such as digital public infrastructure, tourism and health, and present new ideas to other countries for collaboration.

India's role in the emerging world order

"This is an opportunity for India to put forward the issues that India has been taking up at various international forums... especially the issues that concern the global south," Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan said in one interview.

He is clear about India playing a greater role in the emerging world order.

AFP — A man stands near a mural of the upcoming G20 India summit, ahead of its commencement in New Delhi on September 7, 2023.

"We have always held the view that the period when there was a bipolar world, that is over now, it is a multipolar world, and in the multipolar world, the views that India has been putting forward... are being recognised by the whole world more and more," Muraleedharan said.

In the same vein, he mentioned the issues of inclusive growth, sustainable development, and "living in harmony with nature."

Going further, but not getting into specifics, he said the G20 will be an opportunity where consensus will be reached on "our solutions for many of the vexed problems of the world."

One discussion relates to the African Union's entry into the G20.

Among the non-members India has invited to attend the G20 are: Nigeria, Egypt, Mauritius, African Union chair Comoros, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

The Arab region is central to India's energy security and a major destination for Indian manpower and merchandise exports.

In Africa, India sees immense opportunities for services exports, access to resources and investment partnerships.

The Arab region is central to India's energy security and a major destination for Indian manpower and merchandise exports. In Africa, India sees immense opportunities for services exports, access to resources and investment partnerships.

Spotlight on Africa

India's position on developing countries and the African Union's entry into the G20 has American backing.

"We're also looking forward to warmly welcoming the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 — the newest permanent member. We believe that the African Union's voice will make the G20 stronger," White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Sullivan talked about US priorities and how President Joe Biden would approach some of the issues at the G20.

He said one focus area will be "delivering on an agenda of fundamentally reshaping and scaling up the multilateral development banks, especially the World Bank and the IMF."

The idea is to make these institutions more relevant to today's realities.

"We know that these institutions are some of the most effective tools that we have for mobilising transparent, high-quality investment into developing countries. And that's why the United States has championed the major effort that is currently underway to evolve these institutions so that they are up to the challenges of today and tomorrow," Sullivan said.

AFP — Students give final touches to a painting of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, at an art school in Mumbai on September 7, 2023, ahead of the two-day G20 summit in New Delhi.

One of the challenges the Western-backed multilateral financial institutions are facing is indeed China, whose loans and financing to developing countries as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure development project have eroded Western influence.

So, when Sullivan says the IMF and the World are being mobilised for "transparent and high-quality investment", the West's frequent criticism of China's financing as a debt trap, opaque, coercive and unsustainable comes to mind.

The US tends to forget that China's attraction as a financing partner grew because Western-backed institutions were seen as agenda-driven, overbearing and interfering in the national policies of the countries seeking money.

For India, despite a relentless focus on its advancing soft power and image, finding consensus on the bigger economic and political items will be a daunting task.

Due to its close relations with Russia, India is really in a bind over the Ukraine issue, and if no consensus text can be worked out then it would be considered a huge setback to its presidency.

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