by Muhammad Ali Raza 5 April 2023
The G20 summit laid the first stone in 1999. It sought to overcome the economic disparity between the Global South and Global North. The G20 group is contained of 19 countries and the European Union. It has also permanent invitees including African Union, ASEAN, Spain, and other regional and financial organizations. It came into existence after several global economic crises. The countries which are part of the G20 group are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. The yearly summit of G20 was started in 2008 after the economic recession of 2007-2008. Now, this summit is held annually with each member country hosting it on rotation. The summit aimed to provide recognition to the growing number of emerging economic countries. The idea behind the summit was that emerging economies must be part of the core global economic discussion.
Last year in 2022 the G20 summit was held in Bali, Indonesia where all countries focused on the agenda of global financial cooperation, and compliance with the Paris agreement and condemned Russian hostility in Ukraine. On Nov 16, 2022, Indonesian Prime Minister Joko Widodo transferred the rights of the presidency to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India assumed the presidency of the G20 summit 2023 on Dec 1, 2023. India designed the logo of the G20 summit 2023 over the pattern of the Indian national symbol lotus flower, which also resembles the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) official symbol. This sparked controversy inside Indian politics that Prime Minister Modi is trying to politicize this summit for political goals scoring and to positively portray its party image.
The first meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors under the G20 summit 2023 was held in Bengaluru, India of member countries under the Finance Track of G20 summit. During this meeting, India faced pressure from a member country France to oppose Russian intervention in Ukraine. On which French finance minister said “France will oppose any softening of language that was committed in Bali. He said that wording of condemnation of Russia is a key point holding up the finalization of the communique. “And once again, don’t make any mistake, we will oppose any step-back from the declaration of the leaders in Bali,” Le Maire said which India is trying to avoid in the discussion. India also doesn’t want to use the word war in the 2023 summit. India is trying to build consensus as it doesn’t want this summit to affect its relationship with Russia. India is trying to build consensus in this regard as there are possibilities that Russia may face more sanctions from the Western countries during this summit.
India has been hosting this summit in a very delicate situation when on one side the USA and China hostility is at its peak over the spy balloon and on another side, Russia Ukraine war can fluctuate India’s relationship with Western allies or Russia. So G20 Summit 2023 will be a key event for it. India has also been facing other issues which involve its status as a non-signatory member of the non-nuclear proliferation treaty (NPT) its unchecked role in nuclear proliferation is of major concern for the member state and it’s against the agenda of G20 which incorporated the United Nation (UN) sustainable development Goals (SDGs). India’s relationship with neighboring countries in South Asia is also souring. In this condition, it is very difficult that India can act as a bridge between the global North and the global South. The meeting for the promotion of tourism in Kashmir valley is a dilution of the UN auspices and a violation of Kashmiri’s right to self-determination.
The main agenda of this G20 summit 2023 that is going to happen in India is women-led development which put forwards many questions regarding it. Because of the time at which this summit is happening the number of Hindu nationalist attacks has up surged especially in the month of March. Vigilantism is a group of activists that is associated with a particular party making the life of minorities difficult. RSS is a description of vigilantism which is associated with BJP and making the life of minorities particularly Muslims miserable. At least six mosques and over a dozen of houses and shops belonging to Muslims were vandalized by Hindutva groups RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal across Tripura during protests against Bangladesh violence on Thursday. Will this agenda incorporate minority women-led development also? Will this agenda also include Muslim women-led development? In this situation when a country is doing all its actions against the agenda of a platform it is associated with and also not steadfast to its member countries and its people. It only wants that platform to enact a positive image of a single Hindu nationalist political party, not a country that doesn’t make it a meritorious host and member of the G20 Forum.