India’s emergence as a leader on the global stage has picked up pace in recent years. Its foundation is based mainly on its strong economic growth, political stability and its deliberate choice to exercise strategic autonomy on critical issues aimed at safeguarding its core national interests. India’s role as a selfless partner and a global messiah during the COVID-19 pandemic, where it supplied lifesaving vaccines to over 100 countries, could be termed as an important turning point too. A global recognition and acceptance of India as a powerful and influential nation which enjoys trust and goodwill across ideologies and does not harbour any extra-territorial ambition nor does it intend to intervene in intra-regional disputes, to have added to the weight that the Indian voice carries now. As a result, it has often been called upon to intervene in issues and conflicts where even the most powerful nations are seen to be siding with one of the parties to the conflict; the Russia-Ukraine war and the Gaza conflict are cases in point. Of course, the charismatic leadership of PM Modi too has been an important factor due to the close personal rapport that he enjoys with leaders across the globe.
In its pursuit towards this global leadership, India should have normally relied on getting its due at the United Nations and especially the UN Security Council. However, despite most countries which matter, supporting India’s candidature individually, India’s entry into the UN Security Council has not materialized. With this major global decision-making body responsible for issues relating to peace and security without a permanent Indian voice, India has done the next best thing possible, use other influential multilateral platforms to voice its concerns on global issues and garner support for its leadership role. It has successfully propagated the idea that it does not aspire to be a global hegemon but a friend, ‘Vishwa Mitra’ (World’s friend). The theme of one of the most successful G20 presidency, hosted by India in 2023, carried the theme, ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, a clear reflection of the collaborative leadership role that India aspires for. Even BRICS, a small grouping of five countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is expanding its membership, formalizing structures in its attempt to become a major ‘non-western’ multilateral forum which could, in years to come, challenge the world order established by the West. Here too, the Indian voice and imprint are too big to miss out.
India and G20
The G20 has 19 countries, the EU and the African Union (included as a member during India’s presidency) as members and brings together more than 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade and more than two-thirds of the world’s population. It provides a platform for global decision-making like no other global platform today. Recognising its potential and power, India has been clear that G20 has to be one of its foreign policy priorities.
India’s presidency of the G20 in 2023 was spectacular in its true sense and set many benchmarks which will be difficult to replicate in the future. The depth and scope of issues discussed were unprecedented and India’s decision to hold over 250 meetings spread across the length and breadth of the country left the diplomats and delegations spellbound. The ‘Delhi Declaration’ issued at the end of the summit was an apt reflection of the global agenda set by India and the priorities, key among them being the focus on inclusion of the Global South in the G20, inclusive and human-centric development, climate preservation models through ‘just transition’ and a new model for financial inclusion for the developing world. The joint declaration which was signed without any caveats or disagreements was also a result of India’s deft diplomacy, which had to navigate through serious disagreements and conflicting views, prominent among them was the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the resultant stand-off between Russia and the West.
Perhaps the most significant outcome of India’s G20 was the inclusion of the African Union as a G20 member. Right through its presidency, India was vocal of becoming the ‘Voice of the Global South’ and it hosted the first ever ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ on 12-13 January 2023, consisting of many African countries.
India’s emphasis on LIFE (Lifestyle for Environment) and climate preservation and getting the G20 nations to agree on a ‘just transition’ to save the planet was yet another huge achievement. It now involves a country specific climate assessment and transition rather than the earlier ‘one size fits all’ approach. Another Indian initiative, setting the Coalition for Disaster Resilience, so that countries across the world, learn from each other and build infrastructure that is resilient even during disasters, too was widely acknowledged and applauded at the Summit.
Promotion of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) was another landmark achievement of India’s presidency. India through its DPI has been able to pull millions out of poverty by ensuring financial inclusion and ‘direct benefit transfer’ stopping leakages. The digital payment system has caught the attention of even advanced economies like Japan, Singapore, France, Germany, and UAE who looking at ways to adopt it.
India also placed emphasis on addressing the global challenges posed by debt vulnerabilities, especially for nations in the Global South. Towards this, the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, a joint initiative of the IMF, World Bank and the G20 Presidency was launched.
India and the BRICS
If the G20 presidency was an unprecedented success, the quiet but effective footprint of India in the collective decision-making within the BRICS is evident. In an effort to evolve BRICS into a major non-western global platform, the 2023 presidency of South Africa was significant as it led to the first expansion of the forum. Of the 23 countries which officially expressed their desire to join BRICS which included nine nations from the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) region, the BRICS decided to include six countries into the grouping; Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (Argentina later withdrew). With India having major interests in its extended neighbourhood in West Asia and having signed strategic partnership agreements with three of the new entrants i.e., Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt, it was clear that India had a major say in the decision-making.
Even in the 2024 Summit in Russia, India’s leadership was evident as it took the initiative to pitch for the Global South and pushed for the New Development Bank (NDB) to become a crucial institution for the Global South. PM Modi emphasised that the NDB has a critical role the role of NDB in fostering infrastructure growth and providing critical financial support to emerging economies.
India also pushed for the need to develop a BRICS-centric financial system, an alternate currency to the US dollar and ways to ensure that maximum trade between members is concluded in local bilateral currencies.
On the two ongoing conflicts i.e. the Russia-Ukraine war and the Gaza conflict too, there was near unanimity that India could play a more proactive role in bringing an end to the conflicts.
Conclusion
India is rising and it requires global platforms like the G20 and BRICS to make its voice heard and also provide a leadership role. With the UN rendered a defunct institution and G7 an exclusive Western club, India has found other effective multilateral forums to pursue its agenda. As it pursues its goals for a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India) by 2047, India’s leadership at the global high table will be one of the important factors and India’s use of platforms like G20 and BRICS to showcase its leadership skills to the world, would prove to be a very effective tool towards it.
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