G20 NEW DELHI MEET:MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH

 Recently concluded G20 New Delhi Summit attracted much attention within and across the globe.Along with India's expertise in negotiations G7s role particularly that of US and Japan and that of members of BRICS were mainly responsible in clinching a unanimous declaration at the  G20  Summit in New Delhi. G 20 as a group account for about 85% of global GDP and two third of world population and over three fourth of global trade. G 20 or Group of twenty is an intergovernmental forum founded on September 26th 1999 concieved by G7 In response to the series of crises that occurred across emerging markets like Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Russia and East Asia in 1990s. The group consists of European Union, Argentina, Brazil,Canada,China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia,Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.In addition to member countries this year as president India has invited Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria,Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE as guest countries for the Summit .During India's G20 Presidency Previous  president Indonesia and  president designate Brazil formed the troika together playing contructive and vibrant role in  the group negotiations. 

India's presidentship of G20 this year witnessed a comprehensive and  well coordinated approach by various teams working on different themes with Sherpas committed to optimum division of work. Accordingly the country hosted 220 meetings with active involvement of officials from 125 countries attending over 60 cities accounting for over one lakh official vistors from abroad,participating in the deliberations and bringing remedies to various issues faced by world in general and developing economies in particular .The dexterity and ability to adopt a unanimous declaration by New Delhi summit was a major breakthrough particularly in the background of global negativities like pandemic, global warming, climate change,lack of clean energy, rising food and energy prices,disruption in production and supply chains,growing indebtedness and more significantly turbulent geo political conflicts like Russia Ukraine war,tensions in Indo Pacific region and unstable  global supply chain disruptions  including energy and food prices etc. 

Leaders of G20 decided to resolve  international  economic cooperation in concrete way through partnership by committing to achieve the following-1.Accelerate strong, sustainable, b hualanced and inclusive growth, 2.Accelerate the full and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for  sustainable development 3.Pursue low GHG/ low carbon emissions, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable development pathways by championing an integrated and inclusive approach. 4.Improve access to medical measures and facilitate more supplies and production capacities in developing countries to prepare for future health emergencies. 5.promote resilient growth by urgently and effectively addressing debt vulnerabilities in developing countries. 6.Scale up financing from all sources for accelerating progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).7.Accelerate efforts and enhance resources towards achieving agreement on temperature goal.8.Pursue reforms for better, bigger and more effective Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to address global challenges to maximize developmental impact. 9.Improve access to digital services and digital public infrastructure and leverage  digital transformation opportunities to boost sustainable and inclusive growth. 10.Promote sustainable quality, healthy, safe and gainful employment. 11..Close gender gaps and promote the full,equal,effective and meaningful participation of women in the economy as decision makers. 12.Better integrate the perspectives of  developing countries including LDCs ,LLDCs and SIDCS into future G 20 agenda and strengthen the voice of developing countries in global decision making. 

According to Amitabh Kant Indian Sherpa New Delhi declaration that contained 83 paragraphs comprehensively dealing with different vital issues connected with the global economy,governance and development were absolutely devoid of any dissent,footnote or  Chair summary. Reiterating India's universal slogan "We are One Earth, One Family and we Share One Future ".G20 cooperation focused essentially on determining the global future, economic growth and stability. containing Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. . While climate change, loss of biodiversity,pollution, drought, land degradation, and desertification, are threatening lives and livelihoods, rising commodity prices particularly food and energy prices are pushing up cost of living pressures. Digitalisation,  digital public infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence (AI)and its  impact, Women empowerment and gender development, health and education infrastructure, food security Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and regulating crypto assets/ currencies. strengthening financial capacities at multilateral development institutions/and banks, were other issues addressed in the Summit.IMF had already emphasised the need for a globally coordinated consistent and comprehensive regulatory framework inorder to provide order ,consumer confidence and a secure environment for innovation within crypto eco system. In order to regulate crypto assets effectively India must work on a  licensing regime for virtual assets service providers. 

The G 20 meet formally recognized the need for US dollars 5.8-5.9 trillion required  prior to 2030 period for developing countries to meet environmental challenges. Similarly US dollar 4 trillion per year for clean energy technologies by 2030 also required to reach the target of net zero emission status by 2050.Report also emphasised the need to reverse deforestation and switching over to electric vehicles on a priority basis to achieve clean energy economy.The declaration made provision for $10 trillion needed for climate change adaptation and mitigation projects for the global South,but failed to reach agreement on fossil fuel " phase out " deadlines. It may be noted here that the Global Biofuel Alliance(GBA) was a  major step towards more research and development of alternative energy sources and for strategically reducing dependence on fossil fuel across the globe .The group comprised of more than 30 countries and international institutions that support worldwide development and deployment of sustainable Biofuels.In a sense Global Biofuel Alliance has to  act as a counter to OPEC.  Experts observed that GBA not only should promote first and second generation bio fuel but also invest in next generation fuel like algae fuel. It is heartening to note that already 19 countries and 12 international organizations including UAE expressed their desire to join GBA. 

Finance Ministers and Central bank Governors of G20 attempted " capacity building of the economic system for financing sustainable development.The objective is to scale up efforts in mobilising large pools of global capital for sustainable projects, particularly in Emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs).G20 also proposed the first Technical Assistance Action Plan that will create an eco system of capacity building initiatives encompassing a series of advisory, operation and technical programs.The inclusion of African Union as the 21st member to the group is a major achievement of New Delhi Summit. This paved the way to hear the voice of 54 more countries from African continent having potential to become a major participant in global supply chains especially for high technology sectors including automobiles mobile phones and renewable energy .

Another major breakthrough is the historic agreement on India Middle East- Europe Corridor comprising of rail sea link that will provide strategic economic gain for participating countries. The Corridor facilitate an alternative transport route to the thriving markets of the Middle East and Europe and further extend India's reach to North Africa and North America. The two lanes proposed in the multinodal Corridor will be designed to provide a cost effective ship and rail transit network between Asia,West Asia and Europe. The eastern line will connect India with the Arabian Gulf, while northern one will link the Arabian Gulf with Europe. Similarly the prominence of World Trade Organisation's (WTO's) which had declined eversince the appellate body - Dispute settlement system has been paralyzed for several years ,since the US started blocking appointment and gradually all the judges retired from it by 2019.The G20 declaration called for a rule based, non discriminatory, fair, open, inclusive,equitable and transparent multilateral trading system with presence of WTO at its helm is indispensable, we hope that the forthcoming 13th Ministerial Conference at Abu Dhabi will restore the teeth of WTO for a rule based multilateral trading system. Due to G20 New Delhi meet Brand India image is also getting widespread boost globally and Indian firms expect to attract increased foreign investment flows and more bargaining power as well.

  Historically the previous Seventeen G20 Summits indicated a tangible shift in the economic power of the West. Moreover the financial commitment made by the developed countries towards sustainable development goals including debt forgiveness for distressed low and middle income countries have lost much to be desired especially in relation to the debt resolution of highly indebted countries.  Main achievements of the New Delhi summit are 1 Africa became the 21st member with the voice of 54 more countries, 2.India Middle East Europe USA Corridor proposed and already approved by the leaders3 Global Biofuel Alliance for a sustainable future 4.Global partnership for financial inclusion that acknowledged India's progress in digital public infrastructure.5.The summit also addressed the issue of crypto assets regulation and the need for stronger multilateral development banks.6. Emphasizing the need for a rule based multilateral trading system the summit is also emphasizing the need to revive the teeth of WTO namely the  dispute settlement mechanism. 

In short as observed by IMF economist Gita Gopinath India is currently contributing 15% of Global GDP and is poised to reach the third position in the  Global economy by 2027-28.Obviously the major breakthrough achieved via G20 Summit is bound to bring more laurels to the economy by means of new projects,investment and income enhancing our GDP further. However policy makers should  boldly utilise increased fiscal buoyancy more rigorously to meet the challenges of poverty, malnutrition,anaemia unemployment and squalor instead of shielding it. In any case"Vasudaiva Kutumbakam" and "Sathyameva Jayathe" are complementary to each other .