G20 Presidency ushers in an India-inspired World Order

The tremendous global outreach achieved by India in the run-up to G20 under its Presidency, was a Summit ‘with a difference’ as set off positive geopolitical trends both for global security and the world economy.

The biggest achievement of the Summit was the release of a joint statement - Delhi Declaration - representing a consensus that had eluded it in the past because of differences on geopolitical developments chiefly the Ukraine-Russia military conflict, issues of environment and matters relating to equity for the Global South.

India has firmed up its position as a world power whose counsel on issues of war and peace would be respected and whose voice of sanity turned the esoteric Indian concept of ‘one world one family’ into a reality. It also made the world’s most powerful economic group aware of the need to enlarge its ambit and embrace a human-centric approach to global issues.

The ‘Delhi Declaration’ will go down in history as the first expression of unanimity by member countries on a wide variety of global issues beyond the traditional matters of economy and business, such as climate change, the threat of terrorism and an equitable order addressing the disparity between the North and the South.

India left its imprint at the G20 summit with Prime Minister Modi advancing the concept of Mission LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment) as a part of the larger vision of ‘One earth, one family, one future’.

What also stood out were arriving at a consensus on the need to create a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and bringing ‘start-ups’ to the high table and India’s example as a lead player in that was successfully put forth, to demonstrate India’s front-line role in advancing the cause of the global economy.

India was projected as the fastest-growing economy with the potential to become one of the three largest economies of the world. The ‘ease of doing’ business was convincingly explained to lay the ground for further foreign investments in India. India’s potential across the spectrum - from space to sports - was well demonstrated.

Reaffirmation of expeditious implementation of the 2023 Agenda on SDGs Goals in a way that ‘no one is left behind’, the call for women-led development and emphasis on the conceptual shift from a GDP-centric approach to human-centric development, must be regarded as transformational ideas voiced at Delhi Summit. The political will of the Narendra Modi regime has put the stamp of consistency and strategic soundness on India’s foreign policy that basically favoured bilateral, multilateral and mutually beneficial friendships while striving for global peace and advancement of the world economy.

In the context of the Ukraine-Russia military confrontation, India held its ground while calling for a peaceful resolution through talks without naming either side with Modi insisting that ‘this is not an era of war’.

No voice of dissent was raised by the US, Russia and China at the summit and India’s policy of pushing the Indo-US relationship to a new height while maintaining the country’s deep bonds with Russia was proceeding unhindered.

India maintained its vocal advocacy of UN reforms on the grounds that the world body had to be a representative one in today’s global order and had to broad base its decision-making process.

It appears that voices favouring India’s inclusion as a permanent member of the Security Council are getting stronger every day as there is a realisation that this was needed to maintain the very credibility of the global body as the arbiter of matters affecting global order and peace.

It may be mentioned here that the Delhi Declaration of the G20 Summit gave equal importance to issues of world security and global economic development - this was because India had chosen to be upfront about expressing concerns at all world forums that affected India’s security and posed a danger to the world at large, as well.

At the G20 summit, India gave a clear message to China and Pakistan that it was well-prepared to deal with them both and effectively counter their joint mischief. After the G20 summit, India is better prepared to deal with an aggressive China on the borders and elsewhere and is in a position to inflict costs on Pakistan for its cross-border misadventures.

The gains of G20 have been unprecedented in terms of the cultural richness, ‘soft power’ potential and new avenues of exports of India’s enormous handicrafts and local products, to which the world was given access during the extensive get-togethers and domestic ‘touring’ organised for the visiting dignitaries.

As the flag bearer of the Global South and as a champion of humanitarian approach to economic development, India’s Presidency has converted this group of developed countries into a world forum where an unbiased view could be upheld on geopolitical developments, issues of global economy with particular reference to the lot of the developing countries and on crucial dimensions of ‘one earth one family’ like climate change, disaster management and gender equality.

In the run-up to the Delhi summit, Prime Minister Modi emerged as the anchor of the ASEAN-India summit in Indonesia where he presented a framework of cooperation between India and ASEAN on issues such as connectivity, digital transformation, trade and economic partnership, collective fight against terrorism and terror funding and cyber disinformation.

Moreover, Modi emphasised that the code of conduct for the South China Sea should be effective and should take into account the interests of countries not involved in it.

The role of India’s National Security Advisor in all of this stands out when one looks back on what his predecessors did in moments of national crisis like 26/11 and the radical onslaught of ISI in Kashmir in the early 1990s.

Modi’s justification of friendship with the US is based not on any compulsion of humouring the latter as a superpower but on a conviction that as the two largest democracies with proven credentials of their electoral systems, they must lead the democratic world against the dictatorial regimes - amongst them the Marxist China and the ‘fundamentalist’ Pakistan - for the larger good of the world.

The announcement of the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor in the presence of representatives of the US, France, Germany, EU, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Turkey, proved this.

Prime Minister Modi highlighted the need for respecting the sovereignty of all nations implicitly conveying his disapproval of the CPEC under China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) that cut through POK in the face of strong protests from India. India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor is also meant to curb the rise of Islamic radicals with their faith-based terrorism, who were evidently receiving support from the Sino-Pak axis.

The recent large terrorist attack of Hamas on Israel is the outcome, among other things relating to the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, of a constant spread of radicalisation in the Muslim world.

The G20 Presidency has helped India to isolate its adversaries and widen the area of support for its strategy of dealing with them.