As is usual with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he does not fail to make the most of every opportunity. With India having taken over leadership of the Group of Twenty (G20) nations, he has gone the whole hog to be as effective in the role as possible. The G20 events being held in India, including the Foreign Ministers’ meet, are not just directed at achieving the goals for which the G20 has been established, but also to boost India’s profile by providing delegates at every level and of every forum a glimpse of the country’s enormous diversity, culture and civilisational depth.
It is essential to note that the G20 countries ‘represent around 90 percent of global GDP, 80 percent of global trade and two-thirds of the world’s population’. Considering this profile, they can have a major impact on many elements of global growth and development, particularly affecting poor and developing nations that are not ‘present in the room’. It is a responsibility that Modi has particularly focused on even as other issues are more in the forefront at the present.
The G20 FMs’ meeting has been held under the shadow of the Ukraine crisis, which could very well upset the overall thrust of why it is being held. There is concern about whether the ministers would be able to work out an understanding on the way forward for the organisation considering the potential of it being sabotaged by the bitterness over the war. It will require extraordinary handling by Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and the Government of India to arrive at some kind of a consensus.
Considering that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are among those present, it cannot be denied that the opportunity exists for some behind the scenes diplomacy that could narrow down the differences and improve conditions for peace. However, PM Modi also pointed out the other important issues that require more widespread global cooperation such as diminishing the skewed economics between the developed nations and the rest, global warming, as well as other threats such as terrorism. Hopefully, while nothing dramatic is expected to emerge from the interaction, as it was brief and the challenges enormous, preparations will have been made for the coming summit of G20 Heads of Government. Multilateralism, as seen from India’s perspective, cannot be one-sided and there has to be concern for those most affected but rarely heard. While articulating the ‘Outcome Document’, S Jaishankar said the Foreign Ministers focused on what unites and not what divides. Hopefully, this will prove a good beginning to what is to come.
