Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message at the G20 summit would revolve around the challenges of energy security, food security, global health security, the environment, and climate challenges, with an aim of providing a voice to the developing world, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Sunday at a special briefing on the PM’s visit to Indonesia.
“PM Modi will be attending the 17th G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, starting tomorrow. India will hold the presidency of the G20 for one year starting from December 1,” the foreign secretary said. On what would be the PM’s message for G20 leaders grappling with the challenges of post-pandemic recovery and the Russia-Ukraine war, Kwatra said the challenges would be the primary focus of the meeting.
“The G20 countries are facing several challenges, which include the continuing uncertainty and challenges relating to energy security, the whole rubric of environment and climate challenges, the challenges related to food security, and the problem of global health security,” he said.
However, the foreign secretary said the challenges also present opportunities in the digital space and the delivery of governance using digital platforms, which is a “unique competence” of the Indian economic ecosystem.
“So, obviously, when you resolve these challenges and respond to these opportunities, it has to be done in a manner that provides an important voice to the developing world. The idea is that the benefit of mitigation of these challenges and harnessing of these opportunities should go in a very large measure to the developing south also, which I think is the underlined intent of the meeting,” Kwatra said.
The foreign secretary further said that during the summit, there would be discussions along these lines.
“I am not very sure what the Prime Minister’s intervention would be. But, I am assuming that it would be an intersecting set of all many of these elements and specific sub-sections of these elements,” Kwatra said.
PM Modi will attend three sessions on food and energy security, digital transformation, and health, according to Kwatra.
“As per the current programme, the Bali Summit comprises three working sessions at the leaders’ level, where PM Modi will be participating. These include sessions on food and energy security, digital transmission, and health.”
G20 deliberations have acquired a greater voice in the current global economic and political context.
G20 is the primer forum for international economic cooperation and plays a crucial role in shaping and strengthening the global architecture and governance in all major international economic and developmental issues.
The G20 members represent around 85 percent of the global GDP, over 75 percent of global trade, and about 2/3 of the world’s population.
This summit this year is significant as India will hold the G20 presidency for a year starting December 1, and the handover will take place during the next summit in Bali.
During the summit, PM Modi and other G20 leaders will deliberate extensively on key issues such as the state of the global economy, energy, environment, agriculture, health, and digital transmission, among others.
