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First Time Setting Own Agenda: G20 Sherpa Kant On India’s Presidency

By LokMarg 4th December 2022

India’s G20 Presidency has come at a time when the world is under political turmoil and there are challenges of geopolitical crisis in Europe, breakdown of supply chains, the situation of climate action, and poverty, said G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant during a panel discussion in Udaipur on Sunday and added that India believes every crisis is an opportunity.

“There’re challenges of geopolitical crisis in Europe, breakdown of supply chains, the crisis of climate action, poverty, inflation & slowdown of global growth. Amid such a crisis India is taking the G20 presidency, we believe every crisis is an opportunity,” Kant said at the first side event of G20, ‘Transforming Lives: Accelerating Implementation of SDGs – A panel discussion’.
He further stated that when there is a surge in inflation and a slowdown of global growth, India is not only taking the G20 presidency but also rolling out its own agenda.

“So far we were getting agendas from the developed world, this is the first time we are setting out our own agenda, and we will tell that we are the mother of democracy,” Kant said.

In an off-the-record media interaction, Kant further highlighted how India played a significant role in Bali as a balancing act in the communique and focussed on economic issues, not geopolitics.

“In Bali, India played a very significant role as a balancing act in the communique where we focussed on economic issues and not on geopolitics. Everybody accepted that, including Russia and China. The PM’s statement “today’s era is not of war” was also a part of that communique,” he said.

Kant said India is taking over the presidency of G20 at a time of crisis and the responsibility is a huge honour.

“India is taking over the presidency of G20 at the time of crisis. But we believe that every crisis is a huge opportunity and actually, leadership is about finding path-breaking solutions in the midst of crisis. And therefore, we strongly believe that we should really accelerate the pace of implementation of sustainable development goals. And that is why today’s discussion is kicking off ..I think this responsibility is a huge honour,” he added.

G20 is the most significant grouping, like the UN, where reaching a consensus can be challenging. It was institutionalized in 2008 after starting in 1999.

Responding to a media query on why Udaipur was being selected for the G20 Sherpa meeting, Kant said, “This is G20’s first meeting. We selected Udaipur because no other tourism destination is better than this. Good infrastructure and peaceful atmosphere. Our PM wants to promote tourism. We want to make Udaipur a global destination.”

Along with G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, the dignitaries who marked their presence during the event were Former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women on women-led development, Lakshmi Puri, Member of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister on the economic growth for the SDGs, Sanjeev Sanyal, UN Resident Coordinator of India, Shombi Sharp among many others.

Upon their arrival in Udaipur for the first G20 Sherpa Meeting, delegates received a rousing and enthusiastic welcome in the city of lakes. They were welcomed with traditional Indian culture style with folk artists displaying Rajasthani culture and children welcoming the guests. The guests arrived for the first G20 Sherpa Meeting which is being held from December 4-7 and will be presided over by the Indian Sherpa Amitabh Kant.

Various cultural presentations of Rajasthan will be held during evenings from December 4 to 7. Various cultural programmes will be organised by the Tourism Department during evenings from December 4 to 7. On the evening of December 4, world-famous Langa Manganiyar folk artist Ghazi Khan will present a colourful performance at Sheeshmahal of Hotel Leela.

On the second day, the evening of December 5, various folk artists of the state will enthral the foreign guests with the cultural programme “Colours of Rajasthan” at Jagmandir Palace.

On December 1, India formally took over the G20 Presidency for the year 2023 during which time more than 200 meetings will take place in 55 different cities. An intergovernmental meeting of the world’s leading developed and emerging economies, known as the G20 or Group of 20. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union make up this group. (ANI)