New Delhi: Asserting that India’s G20 presidency became a people-driven movement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said its leadership of the bloc has striven to bridge divides, dismantle barriers and sow seeds of collaboration that nourish a world where unity prevails over discord and shared destiny eclipses isolation.
“As the G20 president, we had pledged to make the global table larger, ensuring that every voice is heard and every country contributes. I am positive that we have matched our pledge with actions and outcomes,” Modi said in an article which appeared in several newspapers on Thursday.
He noted that the Voice of Global South Summit, which witnessed participation from 125 countries, was one of the foremost initiatives under India’s presidency. He said, “Our presidency has not only seen the largest-ever participation from African countries but has also pushed for the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of G20.”
In the write-up, the prime minister said an interconnected world means interlinked challenges and noted great concern among many countries that the progress on SDGs (sustainable development goals) is off-track.
The G20 2023 action plan on accelerating progress on SDGs will spearhead the future direction of the G20 towards implementing them, he said.
In India, living in harmony with nature has been a norm since ancient times and it has been contributing its share towards climate action even in modern times, he said.
Modi, however, noted that many countries of the Global South are at various stages of development and asserted that climate action must be a complementary pursuit.
“Ambitions for climate action must be matched with actions on climate finance and transfer of technology,” he said.
He added, “We believe there is a need to move away from a purely restrictive attitude of what should not be done, to a more constructive attitude focusing on what can be done to fight climate change.”
In 2015, he said, the International Solar Alliance was launched and now, through the Global Biofuels Alliance, an India-led initiative, the world will be helped in energy transitions in tune with the benefits of a circular economy.