Before India, Indonesia had hosted the G20 summit in 2022 by spending Rs 374 crore. On the last day of the summit, when it came to issuing the manifesto, Russia and America clashed over the mention of the Ukraine War. To save the summit from failing, Indonesian President Joko Widodo resorted to diplomacy.
He met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Joko Widodo convinced Lavrov to return to Russia even before the manifesto was released. The manifesto demanded an end to the war in Ukraine in accordance with the wishes of America and Western countries.
However, this part was added at the end that China and Russia do not agree with this declaration. After 10 months, India also faces the same challenge.
In such a situation, we will know what is this organization, which is not only a pride for the country but also a difficult test.
First of all, know how the G20 organization was formed…
The whole world remembers the financial crisis that occurred in 2008. Just 11 years before this, in 1997, there was an economic crisis in Asia. This is known as the Asian Financial Crisis. This crisis started in Thailand and spread to other countries of Asia.
Due to the recession, the debt of ASEAN countries increased by 167% compared to their GDP. A large number of people became unemployed. In the first six months of the crisis, the value of Indonesia’s currency fell by 80% and Thailand’s currency fell by 50% against the dollar.
To ensure that this does not affect the developed countries, the G7 countries held a meeting and decided to create a platform where issues related to the global economy could be discussed. Then G20 started. Those countries were identified whose economies were growing rapidly, or which had the potential to grow rapidly. Everyone was brought on one platform.
Till 2007, only the finance ministers of member countries attended its meetings. However, the financial crisis that hit Western and rich countries in 2007 and 2008 forced them to take negotiations to the level of heads of state.
Since then, every year the leaders of all the member countries come together on one platform and discuss important issues. Initially, America had opposed this. However, considering the urgency of the situation, he later agreed to hold the summit. The first summit of G20 countries was held in Washington DC only.
Question 1- How beneficial is the G20 platform for India?
G20 was a very big forum. From the time of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, meetings of this organization started being organized at the level of heads of state. Earlier, all its meetings were held at the level of Finance Minister and Central Banks.
When the importance of countries like India increased, it was brought to the level of summit. The rich countries realized that they could not run the world economy alone. Now G20 countries control 83% of the world’s economy. This organization was created with the purpose of making these countries sit together make common economic policies and increase cooperation with each other.
Now the situation is such that the world is divided again. One camp of the world thinks differently, the other differently. In such a situation, it has become difficult to reach a consensus among the G20 countries. No consensus has been reached in any of the G20 meetings held in India so far this year.
The issue of Ukraine is such that Russia and China are unable to agree with other countries. G20 has become a forum where no decisions can be taken. Last year it could not happen even in Indonesia. When no consensus is being formed then the relevance of this platform has been questioned. At such a time, India is presiding over it. At the end of the meeting of this organization, a common declaration is issued, it is necessary for all the countries to agree on it.
India has a challenge to create a consensus among all the countries for this. If this is possible then it will be considered a big success for India. Otherwise, it will be understood that an event took place which had no meaning.
Question 2- Has India got the presidency of G20 because of PM Modi?
The presidency is given to all the countries of the organization once on the basis of rotation. Last time Indonesia got it. Economically, Indonesia is a weaker country than India. Despite this, it got the opportunity to host the G20 Summit.
Next time only a developing country will get its presidency. Getting the presidency of G20 is not a matter of achievement. A survey has been published in Mint, in which 46% of people have agreed that India got the presidency of G20 because of the leadership of PM Modi. However, the reality is that the hosting of the summit changes every time.
The real success is what is being discussed there. Joining the G20 was a proud moment for India, because then the importance of India and many developing countries was recognized. It is too early to say what India has achieved from its presidency of the G20. Before India, 18 countries have chaired the G20.
Question 3- On which issues is India’s focus?
Currently, there are 3 big issues in the world, which India can raise in the G20 summit…
1) Grain crisis– Due to the Ukraine war, grain prices have increased in the world. Most of its impact has been on African countries. Russia says that Western countries kept 50% of the grain we exported through the Black Sea Corridor.
Send weapons to Ukraine through the Black Sea. In such a situation, India may try to persuade Russia to re-implement the Black Sea grain deal. However, Putin has already made it clear that he will not restart the Grain Corridor.
2) Loan – In July, the Central Bank of America increased its interest rates to the highest level in 22 years. Because of this, the dollar became stronger than before.
Most loans are repaid in dollars. Because of this, the cost of loans has increased significantly for many poor countries of the world. At present about 52 countries are facing a debt crisis. India can help the poor and developing countries of the world by raising this issue.
3) Membership of the African Union- Like the European Union, India was trying hard to make the African Union a member of this organization, after which the African Union got membership on the very first day of the summit. China supported India on this issue. Actually, both countries want to strengthen their credibility in Africa.
Question 4- Does the world really need an organization like G20?
Critics of G20 say that this organization is becoming weak. This can also be understood from the fact that the two main countries of the organization, China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Putin, are not coming to India to attend this meeting. Professor Stephen M. Walt of Harvard University has said in one of his articles in the context of G20 that the Western countries’ approach to running the world is no longer being liked by developing countries.
The reason for this is that the G20 organization has not yet been able to achieve anything for which it was created. For example, in 2021, the G20 countries in Italy decided that they would work together to reduce global warming. However, due to a lack of mutual consensus on this issue between developing and developed countries, no work could be done on reducing the use of coal.
