By holding the summit level meeting, “The Voice of the Global South: Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose” in the year of India’s G20 Presidency, India has set the tune loud and clear that India is ready to take over the leadership of the Global South and act as bridge between the North and the South said Amb. Achal Malhotra, IFS (Retd.) former deputy permanent representative of India at the UN and India’s Ambassador to Armenia & Georgia. He was addressing a ‘Diplomatic Conclave’ on ‘India’s G20 Presidency: The Voice of Global South’, by the Forum for Global Studies, on 5th February, 2023.
Gracing the conclave, Amb. Malhotra, emphasised upon the factors which will support India’s endeavour to offer itself as the leader of Global South. Referring to India’s vast experience of the leading role in NAM and G77, he said that India qualifies to be the leader of Global South. Transiting from the ideological context of non-Alignment movement to the practical aspects of the era of multi-engagement, India is emphasising on Partnerships, as the ‘Comprehensive Global Partnerships’ with United States of America and ‘Special and Privileged Partnerships’ with Russia are enforced.
Where does India stand today? Amb. Malhotra perceives that India being the largest democracy, the 5th largest economy is at a big transit towards the north from south. Also is the south united? Briefing this Amb. Malhotra said that the Global South is more divided than united. To unite the Global South, to make its voices heard at international arena and their views incorporated in the decision making in vital issues whether it is climate change, terrorism, food security, energy security is an enormous task. Also, the global ambitions of China to accomplish the leading footprint in Asia makes the way thorny. Nevertheless, India’s benign leadership towards the global community remains as the ray of hope. Giving his introductory remarks Amb. J.K. Tripathi, IFS (Retd.) Former Consul General of India in Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Ambassador of India to Zimbabwe, briefed the audience about what the global north have appropriated from the global south, reflecting upon the existing abject poverty in many parts of the global south. He said that the acceptability of India in the north is huge today.
Addressing the conclave, Dr. Swati Rao, Associate Fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Centre Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), emphasised upon the critical question of what are expectations from India at this time when India graces the G20 presidency? In response she briefed on the credible standing of India to offer practical solutions to global commons. As India rejects the alliance worldview of the world, it helps to infuse new hope to reinstate the declining faith in the multilateralism and reverse the stream of rising multipolarity. She also highlighted the dire need of equity in accessing the technological heft to galvanise the process of phasing down to phasing out of coal, tackling the pandemic, responding to developmental needs, driving the sustainable future and balancing the feet in power dynamics of countries of global south. Sighting the stellar role India played in vaccine diplomacy, she briefed on the hope that India infuses.
The exploitation of resources from the south by the north is historical reemphasised with and apt example of Anglo-Persian treaty of 1919 by Col. Manoj Kumar Singh (Retd.), Director Research, Forum for Global Studies. He also sighted an anomaly of global power dynamics and role of industrialised stakeholders as how the advancement of nuclear field in energy production is not capitalised. In engaging Q&A session Amb. Tripathi, Dr. Swati Rao and Amb Malhotra answered several questions regarding the aggressive ambitions of China, rising credible footprint of India, the economic aspects of G20 and how the path ahead needs to be responded with.
At the end of the conclave the vote of thanks delivered by Vaishnavi Singh, Honorary Research Fellow, Forum for Global Studies. The session was moderated by Dr. Sandeep Tripathi, Founder and President, Forum for Global Studies.
Note: The event report is written by Nandini Ghosh, Research Fellow at Forum for Global Studies, New Delhi.