Vive la G20

F ollowing are extracts from Dr Sanjeev Chopra’s Special Address to participants of Young Entrepreneurs Alliance of Yi-CII which met last week in New Delhi under the auspices of engagement group B20 under India’s G20 Presidency

From the Ashvamedha Yagna of the Pauranik period, in which the Chakravarty Raja’s horse was free to move in any direction to assert the suzerainty of his king over any part of the Jambudwip (as the horse could not have crossed the ocean), to the current year of India’s G20 presidency, the world has seen many formats of political assertion. Until very recently, the exercise of power was subject to exclusion, or acceptance of suzerain authority of one over the other, and there was always the dominant centre exercising control over the extended territories and frontiers.

The vocabulary too reflected the extent of power, as well as the many layers of its assertion. Thus, there were Rajas, Maharajas and Mahadhirajas besides Nawabs, Sultans, Badshahs and the Khalifa. Europe had its Earls, Dukes, Princes, Kings and King Emperors. The French Revolution talked of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, but the Napoleonic order that followed established its own system of subsidiary alliances. This was also the period of European powers – British, French, Dutch and Germans extended their territorial possessions in Asia and Africa by Treaties and Accords which were heavily skewed in favour of the ‘mother’ country. The interdependence of the colonies was based on absolutely exploitive terms of trade, and it involved the movement of women and men – as slaves and indentured labour – and commodities (sugar, tea, tobacco, cotton, jute, indigo), which made Europeans prosper at the expense of the rest of the world.

A less unequal world

There can be no denying the fact that the world is certainly less unequal today than it was a century ago, but there are still many milestones that have to be crossed before the ideal of ‘fraternity’ amongst and within nations is achieved. While an effort in this direction was attempted by the UN at the end of the second world war which saw over 75 million deaths, the fissures between the US-led First world and the Communist-dominated Second world left the largest populations and territories of Asia and Africa as the Third World. True, the UN gave a voice to all the nations – 51 at the time of founding to 193 today — but the Veto Power of the Big Five in the Security Council actually meant that the UN had two classes or grades of membership. The selection of the initial five also reflected the power politics of the times — thus it was the Formosa/Taiwan under the Chiang Kai-shek regime which was officially recognised as China even though the mainland was fully and firmly under the control of the CPC led by Mao Zedong.

The apparently democratic, but actually US-dominated UN along with the World Bank and the IMF were able to present the ‘Washington Consensus’ as the panacea to the problems of the developing world. Political stability, development finance and control over monetary policy were the three pillars of this triad, which worked well, and most other multilateral organisations, including FAO, UNESCO, OECD and the Commonwealth, worked in supporting roles. Of course, the Non-Aligned Movement with leadership from India (Nehru), Indonesia (Sukarno), Yugoslavia (Marshall Tito), and Egypt (Nasser), emerged as a ‘political force’ but, in the absence of military might and financial clout, could not exercise the salience which an intercontinental group of 120 nations should have. In any case, the end of the Cold War has also diminished the salience of this forum.

Meanwhile, the world had to take up several complicated issues – starting from protectionism to biodiversity and climate change, which did not find adequate expression in the existing frameworks. Countries also came together with their specific sectoral agenda. Thus came the WTO, the Conventions on Biodiversity, the Framework of Parties for Climate Change and many more.

The global financial crisis and G20

In fact, as the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions failed to cope with the crises faced by the world, especially in the aftermath of the collapse of the Asian Tigers in 1997 and the global recession in 2008, the Governors of Central banks of the leading economies, and later the heads of government, met to take stock of the situation. This is what led to the formation of the G20. The principal objective was to prevent a global meltdown, besides ensuring that other issues, like those of food and energy security, were addressed. The heads of central banks have continued to meet under the umbrella of Framework Working group (WFG), and discuss issues of current relevance, monitoring of global risks and uncertainties, and possible areas of policy coordination aimed at promoting Strong, Sustainable, Balanced and Inclusive Growth (SSBIG) across the G20 countries. The FWG also looks at issues relating to financing of infrastructure, debt sustainability, and financing for development concerns of the Global South.

Over the years, the G20 has also established 13 sectoral groups: agriculture, anti-corruption, culture, digital economy, disaster risk reduction, development, education, employment, environment and climate sustainability, energy transitions, health, trade and investment and tourism. Each of the working groups may, in turn, have their specialist cohorts – thus the agriculture working group looks at agricultural research, agriculture extension, food security and global trade. These meetings are attended by professionals in the respective fields, and it is these networks which will bring about a much greater coherence, exchange of ideas and policy dialogues amongst the member nations.

Engagement groups

The 10 engagement groups include those engaged with business, civil society, parliament, science, youth, start-ups, urban, women and youth. In fact, such a comprehensive discussion has never taken place in the annals of diplomatic engagement, for G20 has ensured that the policy dialogues are not just between “ diplomats – but amongst interested stakeholders in every conceivable sector. In fact, each year, the number of issues coming up for discussion are growing, and the best part is that these are happening organically, and not through a secretariat which has a pre-set agenda. Thus, the Young Entrepreneurs Alliance of the Yi – CII hosted a conference of nearly 600 delegates to discuss themes of emerging technologies, business opportunities, collaborations, best practices and the global connect to link markets with integrated supply chains. Next year, the chair of G20 will be with Brazil, and the engagement groups of that country will lay out an agenda that will bring in a uniquely Latin American focus to the organisation, as well as the themes!

Vive la G 20!

The writer superannuated as the Director of the LBSNAA after 36 years in the IAS, and is currently a historian and policy analyst.