India will officially assume the G20 Presidency from December 1
Bali: The mantle of the G20 Presidency now passes on to India, with Indonesian president Joko Widodo ‘passing the baton’ to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of the two-day G-20 summit on Wednesday, November 16, a report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
India will officially assume the G20 Presidency from December 1
In his response, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, Novemer 16, said India’s G-20 presidency will be inclusive, ambitious and action-oriented, noting that it is taking the responsibility at a time the world is grappling with geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown and rising food and energy prices.
“India is taking charge of the G-20 at a time when the world is simultaneously grappling with geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown, rising food and energy prices, and the long-term ill-effects of the pandemic,” the Prime Minister said.
“At such a time, the world is looking at the G-20 with hope. Today, I want to assure everyone that India’s G-20 presidency will be inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented,” he added.
The prime minister said India’s presidency of the G-20 is a proud occasion for every Indian and that the country will organise G-20 meetings in different cities and states.
“Our guests will get full experience of India’s amazing diversity, inclusive traditions, and cultural richness. We wish that all of you will participate in this unique celebration in India, the ‘Mother of Democracy’. Together, we will make the G-20, a catalyst for global change,” he said.
At an earlier session, Modi said digital transformation should not be confined to a few and its greater benefits will be realised only when digital access becomes “truly inclusive”.
“It is the responsibility of us G-20 leaders that the benefits of digital transformation should not be confined to a small part of the human race,” he said, pitching for work by the bloc to bring digital transformation into the lives of everyone in the next 10 years.
The prime minister said India’s presidency of the G-20 is a proud occasion for every Indian and that the country will organise G-20 meetings in different cities and states.
In the session on digital transformation, the prime minister also said that the principle of “data for development” will be an integral part of the overall theme of India’s upcoming G-20 Presidency.
Modi also listed India’s priorities for the G-20.
“Over the next one year, we will strive to ensure that the G-20 acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action,” he said.
“The sense of ownership over natural resources is giving rise to conflict today, and has become the main cause of the plight of the environment. For the safe future of the planet, the sense of trusteeship is the solution,” he added.
However, there were sharp differences at the G-20 over the Ukraine conflict in the declaration issued at the end of the summit.
“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy—constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks,” the declaration said.
It noted that there were other views and different assessments of the “situation and sanctions”.
Western nations imposed crippling sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Modi said the G-20 has to convey a strong message in favour of peace and harmony.
“All these priorities are fully embodied in the theme of India’s G-20 Chairmanship—‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’,” he said.
The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.
It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU).
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