Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Sudhakar Dalela, has underlined the significance of the G20 Summit Johannesburg for India, highlighting the country’s key contributions and the enduring legacy of its G20 presidency. Addressing a special press briefing in Johannesburg yesterday, Mr Dalela said under the overarching theme of solidarity, equality and sustainability, this year’s G20 has delivered a strong message on four key priorities identified by the South African presidency.
These include strengthening disaster resilience and response, ensuring debt sustainability for low-income countries, harnessing critical minerals for sustainable economic growth, and mobilizing finance for a just energy transition. He noted that several initiatives and outcomes shaped during India’s G20 Presidency have continued to evolve, gather momentum, and translate into concrete progress across the grouping, and have been effectively carried forward by South Africa during its presidency. Reflecting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interventions during the summit, Mr Dalela said the Prime Minister appreciated the South African Presidency’s work in critical areas, including skilled migration, tourism, food security, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, innovation, and women’s empowerment. Elaborating India’s approach to growth, development and well-being for all, the Secretary (ER) highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed six actionable steps for the G20 to consider.
These include creation of the G20 Global Traditional Knowledge Repository, G20 Africa-Skills Multiplier, the G20 Global Healthcare Response Team, G20 Open Satellite Data Partnership, G20 Critical Minerals Circularity Initiative and G20 Initiative on Countering the Drug-Terror Nexus. Mr Dalela said the Prime Minister also reiterated the importance of ensuring a stronger voice for the Global South in the global governance structure. In this context, he said the Prime Minister recalled the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 during India’s presidency in New Delhi two years ago, a major step forward and stressed that this spirit of inclusivity must continue beyond the G20. He also highlighted that the Prime Minister recalled the Deccan Principles on food security, adopted during India’s presidency, and expressed hope that this approach would form the basis for creating a comprehensive G20 roadmap on food security. Mr Dalela added that the Prime Minister called upon developed countries to fulfil their climate action commitments, particularly in providing affordable finance and technology to developing nations promptly.
