Sanjeev Trivedi I News 24: The ceremonial Gavel marking the G20 Presidency exchanged hands after PM Modi hit it thrice on his table to mark the formal end of the Delhi G20 on Sunday. The new recipient of the Gravel was the Brazilian President who though excited over the country’s presidency of G20 also acknowledged that the new benchmark set by New Delhi will be hard to eclipse. President Lula had genuine reasons to say this as this was a feeling particular to not him alone. All those present in Delhi during the last 2-3 days had similar things to say. New Delhi had taken the relevance of G20 both in terms of its hosting and its outcome to a level that could hardly have been imagined when the G20 presidency was handed over to India a year ago.
The Delhi Declaration which had 83 paragraphs including the eight contentious ones that included reference to Ukraine could not have seen the light of the day but for the deft handling of Team Amitabh Kant, the G20 Sherpa for India. Under his leadership the team of young diplomats wrote not less than 15 drafts after negotiations spanning over 200 hours to finally arrive at the “compromise language” agreeable to both Russia and the West. That the outcomes ranging from Biofuel to Crypto from health financing to climate, and to those on the conflicts faced by the world numbered 112 and with no dissents, was unprecedented. The joint communique or the Leaders Declaration initially appeared doubtful but when it came it had many firsts.
What was arguably considered the best outcome was the inclusion of the 55-nation strong African Union to the grouping – a decision of the G20 which had the stamp of the Indian Presidency all over it. India has become the voice of the Global South, and this is one responsibility which extends even after the G20 presidency expires in November. In a fractured Geopolitical situation currently when the divide is so sharp and hogged by Europe & America, the idea of taking the debate to the Africas was something revolutionary and New Delhi under PM Modi did it.
India played the proverbial pied piper displaying before the G20 world the transformative impact of its Digital might on the life of the common man on one hand and the traditional crafts coupled with the superfood Shri Anna on the other. The Global Biofuel Alliance was completely an Indian idea readily accepted by the entire G20 members. That India wanted the Multilateral Development Banks to adopt the reforms path to cater to the less privileged countries was also an Indian proposition before the G20 world which saw a ready acceptance. India also succeeded in convincing the grouping that the Crypto assets indeed needed a unified perspective among the nations to evolve a regulatory framework.
The G20 Delhi Deliberations is a milestone for many who say that the Agreement on India-Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor is a gamechanger as it takes the wind out of the sails of the Chinese CPEC and the One Belt One Road Initiative. That China has called it a far-fetched idea in itself proves the unsettling impact that the decision is already having on China and Pakistan.
Perhaps the biggest Contribution of New Delhi to the G20 idea is that the grouping is just not a meeting club of 20 odd entities of the world but a solution giving platform. The festive fervour with which it was organised and the positive vibes, style an aplomb that G20 displayed in New Delhi will be remembered for long.
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