G20- A GLOBAL SUMMIT
G20 is a global summit that is important in geopolitical and diplomatic aspects. Last year this summit was under the presidency of Bali in 2021, ending in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Group of 20 (G20) is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. It plays an important role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues. India holds the Presidency of the G20 from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. The theme of India’s G20 Presidency is “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or “One Earth, One family, One Future“, and LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment). India’s G20 presidency is “striving for just and equitable growth for all in the world, as we navigate through these turbulent times, in a sustainable, holistic, responsible, and inclusive manner”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 27 said that assuming the G20 presidency is a huge opportunity for India and that the country must utilize it by focusing on global good. He said this during his monthly radio broadcast, “Mann Ki Baat”.
ORIGIN OF G20
The Group of Twenty (G20) was formed in 1999 and was originally a meeting of the Ministers of Finance and the Governors of the Central Banks in an effort to broaden the discussion of policies that are beneficial for resolving the global economic and financial crisis. As an economic forum, the G20 is a membership of 19 countries, i.e U.S, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, China, Germany, Britain, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Italy, France, Russia, and one regional organization namely the European Union. The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of the World Bank together with the Chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee participated in the meeting of the Ministers of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank on an ex officio basis. There is no fixed secretariat or headquarters for the G20. Instead, the G20 president is in charge of bringing the agenda together in conjunction with other members and reacting to global economic events. Today, G20 members account for more than 80% of the world’s GDP 75% of the global trade, and 60% of the population of the planet. The G20 summit is held annually under a rotating presidency, which currently rests with India for 2023. The group does not have a permanent secretariat, and the Presidency is supported by the previous, current, and future holder of the post, together called the troika. Along with India, 2023’s troika includes Indonesia and Brazil. Tentative host cities for meetings between December 2022 and February 2023 include Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Indore, Jodhpur, Khajuraho, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Rann of Kutch, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, and Udaipur.
HOW G20 WORKS
The G20 presidency steers the G20 agenda for one year and hosts the summit. The G20 consists of two parallel tracks; the Finance Track and Sherpa Track. Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors lead the Sherpa track. The G20 process from the Sherpa side is coordinated by the Sherpas of member countries, who are personal emissaries of the Leaders. Finance Track is led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the member countries. Within the two tracks, there is a thematically oriented working group in which representatives from the relevant ministries of the members as well as from invited/guest countries and various international organizations participate. The Finance Track is mainly led by the Ministry of Finance. These working groups meet regularly throughout the term of each presidency. The Sherpas oversee negotiations over the course of the year, discussing agenda items for the summit and coordinating the substantive work of the G20. There are Engagement Groups that bring together civil societies, parliamentarians, thinks women, youth, labor, businesses, and researchers of the G20 countries.
AGENDA OF G20
The G20 initially focused largely on broad macroeconomic issues, but it has since expanded its agenda to inter-alia including trade, climate change, sustainable development, health, agriculture, energy, environment, and anti-corruption. As G20 president, India can foreground its belief in a human-centric approach to technology, and facilitate greater knowledge-sharing in priority areas like digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion, and tech-enabled development in sectors ranging from agriculture to education. India G20’s priority will be to continue pressing for reformed multilateralism that creates a more accountable, inclusive just, equitable, and representative multipolar international system that is fit for addressing the challenges in the 21st century. Leaders also reaffirmed their ongoing commitment to fostering a robust and long-lasting recovery that advances and maintains universal health care. They hailed the World Bank’s creation of the “Pandemic Fund”, a financial intermediary fund for Pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.The World Health Organization (WHO), with assistance from other international organizations, has reaffirmed the commitment of world leaders to strengthen global health governance. G20 leaders decided to continue their efforts to keep the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, reaffirming their commitment to the temperature goal in Paris 2015 agreement on climate change. The leaders praised the black sea grains project and pledged to take coordinated action to solve problems concerning food security. Under this rubric, the discussions have focussed on ways to accelerate the transition towards cleaner energy sources. In particular, since any such transition requires substantial investments, the efforts have been focused on finding a platform for such investments.
IMPORTANT ROLE OF G20 IN INDIA
The previous 17 presidencies of the G20 delivered significant results for ensuring macroeconomic stability, rationalizing international taxation, and relieving debt burden on countries, among many other outcomes. We will benefit from these achievements, and build further upon them. India hopes to use the G20 forum to highlight inclusive growth and development, with women’s empowerment and representation being at the core of India’s G20 deliberations. This includes a focus on bringing women to the fore, and in leading positions in order to boost social-economic development and achievement of SDGs. India’s presidency is about human-centric globalization and is expected to have a large-scale impact on the intergovernmental policy formulations and discussions that will influence the New World order and set the global post-pandemic economic agenda. “The impression of this country is that it is not only a hard power evidenced by economic scales and population but also a soft power equipped with well-known films, cuisines, history, and renowned figures.” Byungsik Jung, the representative of South Korea said in an inauguration.
CHALLENGES OF THE G20 SUMMIT
The G20’s transparency and accountability have been questioned by critics, who highlight the absence of a formal charter and the fact that the most important G20 meetings are held a closed door. The informal structure of the G20 with a rotating chair and no permanent secretariat means that agendas are determined each year by the chair and so can swing widely, and formal mechanisms to monitor follow-through on countries’ public commitments are weak. India’s presidency has come at a time when the world is facing many challenges, ranging from Chinese aggression towards Taiwan, the rising food and energy crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the ever-increasing belligerence of North Korea, the global economic slowdown, the emerging threats to trade in the Indo-Pacific region, and concern for the environment. One of the biggest challenges of India’s G20 presidency is expected to be building a consensus towards finding common accept solutions for major challenges such as a slowing global economy, a massive debt crisis that threatens to affect around 70 nations, a spike in worldwide poverty due to the covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis. Another challenge during India’s G20 presidency will be building consensus for reforms in global financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in order to better fulfill the needs and aspirations of developing economies.
This G20 presidency also provides India with an opportunity to test its mettle in dealing with the
