India’s G20 Management Will Require a Delicate Balancing of Priorities Amongst Member States – The Diplomat

The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia

The struggle in Ukraine uncovered the fragility of peace but additionally of meals and power safety. For the West, the fragility of European safety took middle stage, whereas for the creating world, the uncertainty of meals and power entry garnered pressing consideration. This yr’s G-20 summit in September in New Delhi is poised to mirror loads of the worldwide division and variations in priorities between the West and creating international locations. 

Western nations, resembling the US, are prone to emphasize the Russia-Ukraine struggle greater than different points. In the meantime, India’s focus is prone to embrace different long-term points that disproportionately influence creating nations, a dedication Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed in his speech to the G-20 ministerial gathering. Rising geopolitical impasses may stall significant multilateral motion from the upcoming summit. 

As such, how ought to India go about reaching its G-20 agenda and what sort of accomplishments can we anticipate to see?

General, the G-20 summit may present the perfect platform for India to set the tone for its rising world management and talk what duties it needs to bear underneath that management. Whereas acquiring the G-20 presidency alone will not be essentially an illustration of affect, the sorts of points India chooses to have interaction in will decide the nation’s potential to point out efficient management on the G-20.

Modi’s announcement of the G-20 theme, “One Earth, One Household, One Future,” is a sign of India’s try and unite the G-20. Of this bold agenda, digitalization and meals safety are two focus areas that India shouldn’t solely prioritize however are areas the place India will be capable of showcase its personal progress.

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As Western international locations endure an enormous digital transformation, creating international locations danger being left behind. The Modi authorities understands the urgency of digitalization and might encourage different creating international locations to be self-sufficient and impressive towards their objectives for digital transformation in addition to meals safety. India can spotlight its advances, such because the Nationwide Digital ID program and India Millet Initiative and supply creating international locations successful story to encourage them to undertake comparable practices. Because the world’s most populous nation, India’s biometric distinctive identification system is a very highly effective demonstration of how creating nations can benefit from digitalization to drive social innovation. Moreover, India can use the worldwide momentum gained after the U.N. introduced 2023 as “the yr of millets” to encourage the usage of millets as a standard answer for meals safety, particularly within the creating world.

Main the G-20 this yr means holding the eye of nations that account for 85 % of world GDP, 75 % of worldwide commerce, and two-thirds of the world inhabitants. Whereas final yr’s G-20 summit in Bali addressed a bunch of points vital to the creating world, the Ukraine struggle dominated discussions. To drive the G-20’s consideration to issues disproportionately impacting the creating world, Modi must emphasize, significantly to Western international locations, that these points will now not be sidelined on the worldwide stage. 

This yr, Russia and China will attempt to steer the dialog away from the Ukraine struggle, as evidenced by their rejection of parts of a closing assertion criticizing Russian aggression in Ukraine on the G-20 Finance assembly. Whereas there might not be consensus on Ukraine, the G-20 can nonetheless produce important outcomes relating to digitalization and meals safety, two world and very important points.

India must present that its newfound function because the International South’s voice can coexist with its rising alliance with the West. A belligerent China has aligned India and the US on extra fronts than earlier than. India is forging robust relationships, such because the Quadrilateral Safety Dialogue, the Quad, with army and financial powers that may invariably have totally different priorities than creating international locations. India now has an opportunity to construct upon the momentum generated finally yr’s G-20 summit to push not just for the International South’s management, but additionally a rebalancing of priorities amongst G-20 members.

India’s G-20 presidency, nevertheless, is not going to be with out challenges. Whereas India’s distinctive relationship with each the US and Russia looks as if a energy to leverage for higher outcomes, the truth is that these divides run deeper than India alone can bridge. On this more and more fractured world the place international locations to the West and East have interaction in strategic competitors, India’s hope to drive inclusivity on the G-20 is not going to be simple. It’ll even have to point out robust credibility for its potential to guide on the problems most important to the creating world. This G-20 will probably be an vital testbed for whether or not India’s rising financial energy may even afford it a powerful affect on the world degree.

Finally, India’s function because the voice of the International South will should be strategically balanced with the nation’s rising ties with the West to construct a powerful basis for consensus on the G-20. Shaping the multilateral agenda amidst assorted nationwide pursuits will probably be an vital diplomatic check for India. Overcoming these challenges would be the true attestation of India’s potential as a future world chief.