(India has officially taken over the chairmanship of the G20 from December 01, 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s views on the occasion are published by Bharat Express.)
Notions of PM Modi
The past 17 presidencies of the G20 have yielded significant results, including ensuring macroeconomic stability, rationalizing international taxation, and reducing the debt burden of individual countries. We will benefit from these achievements and move forward from here.
Now, that India has assumed this important position, I ask myself – Can the G20 go any further? Can we catalyze a fundamental change in mindset for the welfare of all humanity?
I believe we can do this.
Our circumstances shape our mindset. Throughout history, humanity has lived in scarcity. We fought for limited resources because our survival depended on depriving others of those resources. Between different views, ideologies and identities, confrontation and competition became the norm.
Unfortunately, we are still stuck in that same zero-sum mindset. We see this when different countries fight among themselves for territory or resources. We see this when the supply of essential commodities is weaponized. We see this when vaccines are hoarded by a few, even though billions of people are vulnerable to diseases.
Some may argue that confrontation and greed are human nature. I disagree with this. If humans are inherently selfish, how to explain the enduring appeal of so many spiritual traditions that advocate a fundamental oneness in all of us?
One such tradition prevalent in India is that all living beings and even non-living things are made up of the same five basic elements – earth, water, fire, air and sky. The harmony of these elements—within us and even between us—is essential to our physical, social and environmental well-being.
India’s chairmanship of G-20 will work towards promoting this universal spirit of unity in the world. Hence our theme – ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ is in the appropriate direction.
This is not just a slogan. It takes into account recent changes in the human condition that we have collectively failed to appreciate.
Today we have the means to produce enough to meet the basic needs of all the people in the world.
Today, we do not need to fight for our existence – our age does not need to be an age of war. This should not happen at all!
The biggest challenges we are facing today like climate change, terrorism and pandemics can only be solved by working together, not by fighting each other.
Fortunately, the technology we have today also gives us the means to solve humanity’s problems on a wide scale. The vast virtual world we live in today demonstrates the scalability of digital technologies.
India is a microcosm of this vast world, home to one-sixth of the world’s population and home to a vast diversity of languages, religions, customs and beliefs.
As a civilization with the oldest known traditions of collective decision making, India contributes to the fundamental DNA of democracy in the world. As the mother of democracy, India’s national consensus has not been made by any decree, but by merging crores of independent voices in a harmonious voice.
Today, India is the fastest growing large economy. While nurturing the creative talents of our bright youth, our citizen-centric governance model takes care of even the most marginalized citizens.
We have tried to make national development not a top-down governance exercise, but a citizen-led ‘people’s movement’.
We have leveraged technology to build digital public utilities that are open, inclusive and inter-operable. These have led to revolutionary advances in diverse areas such as social security, financial inclusion and electronic payments.
For all these reasons, India’s experience can provide insight into possible global solutions.
During the G20 Presidency, we will present India’s experience, knowledge and model as a possible template for others, especially developing countries.
Our G20 priorities will be determined in consultation with not only our G20 partners, but also our fellow countries in the Global South, whose voices are often unheard.
Our priorities will focus on preserving our ‘One Earth’, creating harmony in our ‘One Family’ and looking forward to our ‘One Future’.
To nurture our planet, we will encourage sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyles based on India’s tradition of caring for nature.
To promote harmony within the human family, we will seek to depoliticize the global supply of food, fertilizer and medical products, so that geopolitical tensions do not become a cause of humanitarian crisis.
As in our own families, those who are most in need should be the first to worry about them.
To instill hope in our future generations; We will encourage an honest dialogue among the most powerful nations on reducing the risks posed by weapons of mass destruction and enhancing global security.
India’s G20 agenda will be inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and decisive.
Let us unite to make India’s G20 Presidency a Presidency of Protection, Harmony and Hope.
Let us work together to shape a new paradigm of human-centred globalization.
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