India’s G20 Presidency to be a ‘significant milestone’ for Indian democracy

India’s concerns on black money and tax avoidance have been taken on board at the G20,
a senior official and an expert on the subject has said.

It has also been stated that the G20 must “do everything in its power” to keep inflation in range, to protect
the living standards for vulnerable people.
Delivering a talk on ‘The Road Map to Indian Presidency for G20’, V Srinivas, Secretary Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievances said that “From India’s perspective the focus would be on IMF Quota
and Governance”.
He also said that the issues of climate financing, digital assets and capital flows are likely to continue
to feature in the G20 agenda.

The Talk was organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs and the function was chaired
by former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who is also G20 chief coordinator.

Ambassador Vijay Thakur Singh, DG, Indian Council of World Affairs, also spoke on the occasion.

Mr Srinivas stated that the G20 must continue to fight the crisis of climate change and “send clear
signals to decarbonize the economy”.
He pointed out that at present there is an extraordinarily challenging macroeconomic environment.

“Nearly 60 percent of low income countries are facing an unbearable debt burden. It is likely that the G20
will come together to establish new rules and timelines for the common framework,” said Srinivas, who is an
IAS officer.

In fact, for a nation deeply committed to multilateralism and democracy, the forthcoming G20 Presidency of
India would be a very significant moment in Indian history.

In the past Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led the G20 for adopting more effective dealings convergent
with the original purpose of promoting sustainable growth and financial stability.

Speaking on the occasion, former Foreign Secretary Shringla said India has hosted some important
Summits in the past like NAM a few decades back and more recently International Solar Alliance in
2018, but the G20 mega event would be different.

“The difference between these summits and G20 is that the deliberations at G20 involve very extensive
discussions across the board…India will be hosting around 190 meetings over the year. So it is a larger
responsibility,” he said.

He also said climate change is an issue that has been debated at the G20 earlier.

“One of the areas the G20 has been preoccupied with is the issue of climate change,” Shringla said.

He also said that while work on climate change would continue, it would be prudent to lay emphasis
on sustainable development.

In his address, Srinivas also said that the G20 Presidency would be one of the “most significant milestone
moments of Indian democracy”.

“It is widely felt that in times when there is a crisis of multilateralism, India has the responsibility
for bringing stability to a deeply divided multipolar world and crafting broader global responses to the
challenges,” Srinivas said.

He further stated that India’s development journey can offer “many templates” to other developing countries
in digital connectivity, financial inclusion and immunization of children, expressing willingness to share
India’s digital solutions.

Srinivas said that at the session on Climate Change in the past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed
full sensitivity towards climate mitigation and achieving 175 GW of renewable energy, 20 per cent ethanol
blending in petrol by 2025 and net zero emission by Indian Railways by 2030.

“India’s inclusive governance model with emphasis on multilateralism promises one of the finest years of G20
leadership where multilateralism can flourish and the G20 can make a serious contribution to making
globalization fairer,” he said.