G20 declaration will reflect strong voice for Global South, developing countries, says Sherpa Amitabh Kant

Ahead of the two-day G20 Summit starting in New Delhi tomorrow, Sherpa Amitabh Kant on Friday said the New Delhi leaders’ declaration that will come out after the summit will reflect a strong voice for the Global South and the developing countries. Addressing a press conference on Friday, Kant said, “The New Delhi leaders’ declaration that you will see post the summit, you will see it as a Voice of Global South and the developing countries. No document in the world would have such a strong voice for the Global South and the developing countries….”

Talking about the key priorities for India’s G20 Presidency, Kant said when India took over the G20 Presidency in Bali, India was in the midst of a scenario of slowing growth and productivity worldwide and felt we should start our presidency with the theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’- the world is one family. “…India felt that we should start our presidency with the theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’-the world is one family. PM Modi said India’s presidency should be inclusive, decisive, ambitious and action-oriented. We’ve lived up to his vision of being inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and very decisive during our presidency,” added the G20 Sherpa. “Second key priority for us was to have accelerated sustainable development goals because only 12 of the 169 SDGs are on track and we are way behind the schedule. We are midway at the 2030 Action Point. But we are way behind. Therefore accelerating SDGs, improving learning outcomes, healthy outcomes, nutrition - all these were very critical for India’s presidency,” he added. Kant said India wanted the world to take the lead on green development in the context of climate action and climate finance. “There were several components of this which we wanted to drive and therefore, green development, climate action, climate finance were our third priority. Because both SDG and climate action require finance, particularly for developing and emerging markets in the global south. It was critical that we focus on multilateral institutions of the 21st century…,” added Kant. He said one of the key takeaways of India’s presidency is that the world acknowledges that India has truly revolutionised technology through the digital public infrastructure.

This is the first time that the G20 Summit is taking place under India’s presidency. Extensive preparations and arrangements have been made for the summit, with the intention of showcasing both India’s soft power as well as modern face. The 18th G20 Summit will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies. The G20 member countries represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. The grouping 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).