G20 Sherpas meet to shap e agenda of India’s presidency
UDAIPUR: Top officials of the world’s 20 largest economies will begin two days of deliberations in Udaipur on Monday to shape the agenda for India’s G20 presidency, with the focus on ensuring inclusive growth amid a global economic slowdown and divisions created by the Ukraine crisis.
The G20 Sherpas or personal representatives of the heads of state and government and top officials of multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and World Bank began gathering in Udaipur on Sunday for overarching deliberations on the course to be taken by the G20 in the coming year.
India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant highlighted the challenges facing the world community – a massive geo-political crisis in Europe, the breakdown of global supply chains, 70 countries affected by global debt, and the pressing issue of climate action and climate finance.
These were compounded by issues such as literacy, health, vast segments of populations falling below the poverty line due to the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation and slowdown of global growth, he said in his opening remarks at a panel discussion organised by the UN on accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that was attended by the G20 Sherpas.
“At this moment of crisis, India is taking over the presidency of the G20. Our belief is that every crisis is a huge opportunity and leadership is about finding path-breaking solutions in the midst of crisis,” Kant said.
In this context, Kant highlighted India’s G20 theme of “One Earth One Family One Future” and said, “We may have different political views, we may have different economic models, but ultimately, we are part of one universe. It’s necessary to break geographic boundaries to bring peace and harmony in the world.”
People familiar with the matter said the Indian side will make a presentation to the G20 members on the country’s priorities for its presidency and on 12 working groups.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will make a presentation on the global growth scenario and Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary Ajay Seth will brief the delegates on India’s economic growth and its views on global economic issues. The G20 Sherpas and representatives of multilateral bodies and nine guest countries will participate in five separate sessions, the people said.
While participating in the discussion organised by the UN on the theme “Transforming Lives at the Midpoint of the 2030 Agenda: Accelerating Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals”, Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said the management of the global commons, including environment and climate, energy supplies, payment systems and supply chains, “cannot be weaponised in any way”. It is up to the G20 leadership to find ways to maintain continuity of these global commons, he said.