India will put forth voice of Global South, wrap up inclusive, action-oriented G20 presidency: Kant

Ahead of the G20 Summit slated to be held in the national capital later this week, under India’s presidency, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant on Tuesday said that the crucial summit will successfully put forth the voice of the Global South and also indicated that India was well on its way to becoming the voice of both developing nations and emerging economies. Kant was speaking at CNN-News18’s ‘G20 Town Hall,’ a discussion that highlighted India’s growing influence in geopolitics. “India will aim to include the African Union as part of the G20 under its presidency. The move will help to give more voice to the Global South,” Kant said. “Over the years, India has also emerged as a more confident country, capable of leading and bringing about consensus on developmental issues. It is up to us to find solutions to regional geopolitical issues. We will bring everyone together to put forth the voice of the Global South at world forums,” the G20 Sherpa added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time has requested all the participating countries to agree to the inclusion of the African Union. The proposal, Kant said is in the process of discussion and the world leaders will take a final call before the end of the Summit. “With six of the fastest growing 12 nations of the world today belonging to the African Union, making it a permanent member of the influential G20 will truly mean that India has contributed to making the voice of the Global South being heard,” Kant said. “We strongly believe that the future depends on developing nations. Developing nations are the key to the rest of the world. And it is this future that the world is looking at. This year 80% of the growth is coming from emerging markets. The IMF has said in the next two decades, two-thirds of the growth in economies will come from developing countries because the demographics of these nations is very young while the population in the West is ageing,” the G20 Sherpa elaborated. In days to come, India will take a leading role in becoming the voice which puts forth the issues of both developing markets and emerging markets, Kant said. On being asked about how challenging has the preparation for the G20 Summit been, Kant said, “The G20 Sherpa meetings have been going on. These are very very complex negotiations on a range of issues because every single word is negotiated on. There are 29 countries – 20 G20 member countries plus the 9 invitee nations and also a lot of international organisations – all of them are a part of this negotiating process. Bringing everyone to a consensus is critical since every country has a veto power and therefore it is important in multilateral discussions to bring everybody on board. India has done this throughout the year and we are hopeful that we will be able to achieve what the PM has said will be an ambitious, inclusive, decisive and a very action-oriented presidency for India,” Kant said. CNN-News18’s G20 Town Hall is exploring India’s G20 theme – ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, and the country’s role in driving development under the theme. Held in New Delhi, the G20 Town Hall had Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Meenakshi Lekhi, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, G20 Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla among others as participants. The event also featured panel discussions by diplomats of several developing nations who will attend the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10.