According to the prime minister, recent financial crises, climatic change, pandemics, terrorism, and wars have demonstrated how inadequate global governance has been at fulfilling its two main objectives. The G20 Foreign Ministers’ conference began off on Thursday at Rashtrapati Bhavan with a video message by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he highlighted the need for ‘unity of purpose’ as well as ‘unity of action’ at a time when “multilateralism” is in a condition of “crisis”.
The financial crises, climate change, pandemic, terrorism, and wars of the past few years, he claimed, have demonstrated unequivocally that global governance has failed in both of its goals. “We must also admit that the tragic consequences of this failure are being faced most by developing countries”. Modi expressed his hope that the gathering today will demonstrate the spirit of working together for the achievement of shared and specific goals.
The prime minister warned in his video message that there was a chance of rolling back the Sustainable Development Goals after years of development. “Many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debt, while trying to ensure food and energy security for their people. They are also the ones most affected by global warming caused by richer countries.” No group can claim leadership without including the people who would be most impacted by the decision, he said, adding that India’s G20 Presidency has attempted to offer a voice to the Global South.
The conversations today will inevitably be impacted by the current geopolitical tensions, according to Modi. As leading economies, we have a responsibility to people who are not in this room, notwithstanding the fact that there are various viewpoints and stances on how these global problems should be resolved. “The world looks upon the G20 to ease the challenges of growth, development, economic resilience, disaster resilience, financial stability, trans-national crime, corruption, terrorism, and food and energy security. In all these areas, the G20 has the capacity to build consensus and deliver concrete results,” the prime minister said
“The G20 has a critical role to play in finding the right balance between growth and efficiency on one hand, and resilience on the other. We can reach this balance more easily by working together. That is why your meeting is important”, PM Modi said in the message. The theme of India’s G20 Presidency is “One Earth. One Family. One Future,” which has been chosen by the country. The conference was intended to assist the top diplomats in setting a shared goal, the prime minister hoped.
The G20 Foreign Ministers’ Conference is taking place in New Delhi when India is the G20 presidency. Top diplomats including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are there. This is the second ministerial gathering that has taken place so far under India’s President. Bangalore hosted the first ministerial gathering of central bank governors and finance ministers.
