At the just concluded G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brazil, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came in for much praise for highlighting the importance of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), AI, and data for governance. World leaders see in India’s initiative the means to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in a reasonable period of time. There is no doubt that under PM Modi, India has moved ahead in leaps and bounds and shown the world how technology can alleviate poverty and transform people’s lives. At the centre of this is the Jan Dhan accounts. And from there takes off the JAM trinity of Jan Dhan Accounts, Aadhaar and Mobile, which has brought about a digital revolution in the country. There can be financial inclusion only when the benefits of governance to the poor reach them directly, without any leakages. The middleman has been cut out. The tales of only 15 paisa out of 1 rupee reaching the poor are now just a bad memory. Now every benefit goes directly to the beneficiary. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is having a revolutionary impact on the ground and leading to awareness about one’s rights, right at the grassroots.
If the world is waking up to the potential of digital public infrastructure, it is all because of India. It is only India that can be—in fact, is being—the voice of the Global South, whatever China’s claims might be of being the leader of the Global South.
One of the standout features of India’s G20 presidency last year was showcasing its digital public infrastructure, with the aim to take inclusive and sustainable growth right down to the villages. So successful India has been in this, that it is now ready to share its experience and technology with countries of the Global South. India’s focus in Brazil too was on the Global South. The India-initiated “Declaration on Digital Public Infrastructure” at the G20 in Brazil is being welcomed by all countries, with several keen to support it. According to the declaration, “The experiences of several G20 countries have demonstrated that well-designed digital public infrastructure (DPI) augmented by artificial intelligence (AI) can enable the use of data for development, creating new jobs and delivering better health and education outcomes. Their adoption by G20 countries more widely has the potential to radically transform the lives of citizens thereby renewing their faith in vibrant democratic principles.”
The declaration says that the benefits of growth with job creation can be unlocked only when “technological systems focus on each citizen, enabling small and large businesses to connect to them to improve the livelihood of families and neighbourhoods.”
If the world is waking up to the potential of digital public infrastructure, it is all because of India. It is only India that can be—in fact, is being—the voice of the Global South, whatever China’s claims might be of being the leader of the Global South. China, with a per capita income of around $12,600—almost five times that of India’s—in 2023, by no stretch of imagination can be a part of the Global South, forget about leading it. What is also problematic is China’s malign tendencies, where it comes in with a humanitarian face but sooner or later its strategic interests take precedence. Wherever it is going in the Global South, China is trying to propagate its communist ideology, and brain washing the people into believing that democracy is a failed system and it is only one-party rule that can bring about prosperity. It is in this context that the mention of “renewing…faith in vibrant democratic principles” in the DPI declaration assumes special significance.
It’s a different matter that India does not have China’s deep pockets to carry out the elite capture of the countries of the Global South, but it does not even intend to do so. Its aim is to do actual good, and to be the voice of the Global South at the high tables dominated by the Global North. The declaration in Brazil is evidence of the fact that an increasing number of Global South countries are looking up to India to find solutions to their problems.
