As India has taken over the prestigious G-20 Presidency, there will be a series of meetings leading up to the important summit in New Delhi in the fourth quarter of 2023. Meetings will be held in Mumbai and Bengaluru from December 13, 2022.
The first Development Working Group (DWG) meeting will be held in Mumbai from December 13-16. In these meetings, important sessions will be organised on data for development, the role of G-20 in advancing the 2030 agenda, infusing new life into green development, and accelerating progress on the SDGs.
The DWG meetings will discuss developmental issues in developing countries, least developed countries and island countries (Small Island Developing States/SIDS).
The first G20 finance and central bank deputies (FCBD) meeting is scheduled to be held from December 13-15 in Bengaluru. This meeting will be co-chaired by Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Dr Michael D. Patra, Deputy Governor of RBI. Their counterparts from G20 member countries, and from several other countries and international organisations invited by India, will participate in the two-day meeting. It will mark the start of discussions on the Finance Track agenda under the Indian G20 Presidency.
The G20 Finance Track, led by finance ministers and central bank governors of G20 countries, focuses on economic and financial issues. It provides an effective forum for global economic discourse and policy coordination. The first finance ministers and central bank governors meeting will be held during 23-25 February 2023 in Bengaluru.
India will host over 200 meetings in over 50 cities across 32 different workstreams. Approximately 40 meetings of the Finance Track will be held in several locations in India. Amitabh Kant is presently G20 Sherpa of India during its Presidency year. He was CEO, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India), the GoI’s premier policy think-tank. Prior to that he was the Secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion. India’s G20 priorities are spread across six different Working Groups, as well as ways to strengthen cooperative efforts therein. Amitabh Kant has emphasized the need for transformational efforts in agriculture, trade, employment, and combating corruption and economic crimes.
Digital Public Goods
As G20 lead, India can foreground its belief in a human-centric approach to technology, and facilitate greater knowledge-sharing in priority areas like public digital infrastructure/ Data for Development, financial inclusion, and tech-enabled development in sectors ranging from agriculture to education.
Startup20 Engagement
The Startup20 Engagement Group has been initiated under India’s G20 Presidency for the first time, recognising the role of startups in driving innovation that responds to a rapidly changing global scenario. Active consultation with the Engagement Groups forms an integral part of India’s “inclusive ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented”, G20 approach, as outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Bali Summit this year.
Debt Distress
India hopes to drive consensus on key, and contentious issues, like taxation, as well as discuss ways to reform development financing, which should “not trap a country. India wants to focus on recommitting G20’s efforts to achieving the targets laid out in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Reformed Multilateralism
G-20’s invited international organisations are International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), UN, WHO, WTO, ILO, Financial Stability Board (FSB), OECD, AU Chair, NEPAD Chair, ASEAN Chair, ISA and CDRI. The Financial Stability Board is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. India’s G20 priority will be to continue pressing for reformed multilateralism that creates more accountable and inclusive international organisations.
Climate Financing
Climate change is a key priority for India’s presidential agenda, with a particular focus towards not only climate finance and technology, but also ensuring just energy transitions for developing nations across the world. A new working group on Disaster Risk Reduction has been established under India’s Presidency to encourage collective work by the G20, undertake multi-disciplinary research and exchange best practices on disaster risk reduction.
Women-led development
India hopes to use the G20 platform to highlight inclusive growth and development, with women empowerment and representation being at the core of India’s G20 deliberations. The G-20 possesses the knowledge, expertise, financial resources required to reverse trajectories that have gone off track.
India will have the opportunity to offer G20 delegates and guests a glimpse of its rich cultural heritage and provide them with a unique Indian experience. India offers the world LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) -a behaviour-based movement that draws from our nation’s rich, ancient sustainable traditions to nudge consumers, and in-turn markets, to adopt environmentally-conscious practices.
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