All set to steer G20

Vivek Katju
Ex-Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

PM Modi’s remarks at the unveiling of the logo, theme and website on India’s G20 presidency on November 8 were significant in several respects. India assumes the presidency of the group on December 1; the current president is Indonesia and is holding the 17th summit at Bali on November 15-16. Modi has reached Bali to participate in the summit. Clearly, by putting the logo and theme in the public domain, at this stage, Modi wished to accomplish two objectives: one, convey to the group that India is going to take its presidency very seriously; and, make it known to the country that the summit to be held in India will be a big ‘opportunity’ and a matter of ‘pride’ for all Indians.

References to Indic values should be made and they would be heard by G20 nations, but what they would really be looking for are practical measures and actions.

This is not the first major multilateral summit that the country will be organising. Two earlier summits were the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) of 1983. Both were successfully organised and were important initiatives for the foreign policy that the country pursued then. What will distinguish the 2023 summit, which will mark the culmination of India’s leadership of the group, is that it will be the first time that leaders of a group which — as Modi correctly said in his speech — represents 85% of the world’s GDP, 75% of its trade and 66% of its population will be in India.

The government is naturally keen that the country welcomes the summit in a united and collective manner. It wants that the G20 presidency and the summit is not viewed from the perspective of the Central government and ruling party only, but that all states and parties come together for it. As Modi put it, ‘I have a request to all the state governments and all the political parties as well. This event is not only a Central government event. This event is organised by us Indians.’ It would naturally be appropriate for the G20 leadership to witness not only during the summit, but also all through the year that India stands united to safeguard its interests and has a common view on its destiny and future.

It is here that Modi may run into issues. The vision of India which emerges from his speech — and this is not surprising — is seeped with the thinking of the dispensation which Modi leads. And, even here, some of the formulations used in his speech break new ground. These are where specific references to Indian philosophical doctrines have been made. It is one matter to say, as has been repeatedly done for years, that the ‘world is one family’ and needs unity to address the grave issues which confront humankind, but quite another to root that quest for unity in the philosophical doctrines of Advaita. Speaking of the logo of the Indian G20 presidency, Modi said, ‘In this logo, the lotus flower is depicting India’s mythological heritage, our faith, our heritage, all these together. The contemplation of Advaita here has been the philosophy of the unity of living beings. Through this logo and theme, we have given the message that this philosophy should become a medium to solve today’s global conflicts and dilemmas.’

The ruling dispensation has for long projected the glories of India’s ancient past to the world. All this is being done to augment India’s soft power through the promotion, for instance, of the benefits of yoga and ayurveda. Now, the element of one specific Indian ancient school of philosophy has been added. Also, Modi mentioned, ‘Through the G20 India is giving new energy to the global reputation of Buddha’s message for freedom from war and Mahatma Gandhi’s solution in resistance to violence.’ Buddha’s teachings and Gandhi’s doctrine of nonviolence are specially relevant to the contemporary times, but one of the motivations of recalling all this is to project Indic civilisational tenets.

The issue, though, is if the world, and more specifically, the Global South, has the inclination or the patience to focus on these ideals or is more concerned with practical actions which it wishes India to take. The West’s predispositions are known, but what may have come as a surprise to the Modi government is some of the attitudes that the Global South is exhibiting about India. And, this is coming at a time when India wishes to use its G20 presidency to become a bridge between the developed world and the developing world. Certainly, the remarks of the PM of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, at COP27 on India in the context of climate change cannot be dismissed lightly, even if they were unfair and have been pushed back. Browne was speaking in his capacity as head of the Alliance of Small Island States. India has been a champion of their rights.

Browne included India and China in the list of major emitters of green-house gases and stressed that these countries should, as polluters, pay the states that are impacted by their actions. In doing so, he overlooked India’s basic principle that Indian per capita emissions are still very low and, therefore, the focus has to be on developed states that bear the historical responsibility for climate change. What Browne said shows how difficult it is now to act as a bridge. The fact is that India now straddles two worlds. It remains a developing country with vast poverty and in this capacity, it is really part of ‘trade unions’, as it was during the non-aligned period. At the same time, it has also made great economic progress and its weight in international affairs has risen, making it a part of some ‘managements’. It is no easy task to be part of both trade unions and managements simultaneously.

As India takes over the G20 presidency, the global community and the group’s members will pay greater attention to how India plays its part in resolving competing interests between the two worlds. References to Indic values should be made and they would be heard by them, but what they would really be looking for are practical measures and actions.