Stating that multiple challenges confront the G20 grouping, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said
that India adopted an unconventional approach to its Presidency, making it much more connected with
people.
A major highlight of the second day of the Think20 (T20) Summit in Mysuru on Tuesday was a virtual
address by Jaishankar, followed by a high-level interaction with him.
Speaking on India’s G20 Presidency, Jaishankar said that there have been “some achievements, some
work in progress, and some hope in progress”.
The T20 is an official Engagement Group of the G20 and serves as an “ideas bank” for the G20 by bringing
together think tanks and high-level experts to deliberate on relevant policy issues. Observer Research
Foundation (ORF) is serving as the T20 Secretariat during India’s Presidency of the G20.
Introducing the session, Ambassador Sujan Chinoy, Chair, T20 India, described Jaishankar as “a remarkable
leader who strides Indian foreign affairs like a colossus”, and as “a key architect of India’s robust foreign
policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
In his address, Jaishankar observed that with the G20 Leaders’ Summit 2023 a little over a month away, four
points were especially important with respect to the ongoing Indian G20 Presidency.
Jaishankar said that given the immense value of the G20 as an international grouping, “India must ensure a
focus on the right issues and come up with an actionable consensus”.
The external affairs minister emphasised that it is crucial that the G20 remain unified and cohesive, with
“open discussion among all members, irrespective of their other affiliations”.
Jaishankar stressed that the polarisation within the UN Security Council has made the G20 a more crucial
group than it might otherwise have been.
He stated said that at a time when development is under stress worldwide, the G20’s mandate on
development and growth makes it a key contributor to the global good.
“Multiple challenges confront the G20 today. There is a North-South divide and an East-West disconnect

Covid’s impact across sectors, the Ukraine conflict, a debt crisis, and trade disruptions. These factors have
impeded efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to undertake climate action,”
Jaishankar said.
He further asserted that early in its Presidency, “India decided it was important to be fair to countries not in
the room and to hear them”.
Consequently, India conducted an exercise called the ‘Voice of the Global South Summit’ in January 2023,
entering into a dialogue with 125 countries in order to distil their development concerns. These have shaped
India’s priorities as G20 President, he said.
The External Affairs Minister added that as the Indian Presidency draws to a close there have been “some
achievements, some work in progress, and some hope in progress”.
A few milestones have included the positive outcomes of the Development Ministers’ Meeting in June 2023;
consensus around the idea of sustainable lifestyles; a decisive focus on the challenges of advancing the
SDGs; a strong and sustained emphasis on women-led development; and progress in deliberations on
reforming multilateral development banks, Jaishankar said.
“It is important for G20 member states to realize that what unites us is greater than what separates us,” the
external affairs minister said.
Jaishankar concluded his address by stating that India had adopted an unconventional approach to its G20
Presidency, making it “much more connected with people”, and demonstrating that “their concerns and
global concerns are indivisible”.
He said that India had been able to leverage the G20 platform to showcase “change in action”, and to “make
the world ready for India, and India ready for the world”.
Responding to a series of questions by Samir Saran, Chair, T20 India Secretariat and President, Observer
Research Foundation, Jaishankar said that one of his primary concerns was that the world would take years
to recover from the shocks caused by Covid.
“Ever since the financial crisis of 2008-9, there had been some form of global turbulence every year, all of

which had had the effect of broadening the remit of the G20, and causing it to mutate and improvise,” he
said.
Much like most other major groupings, the G20 would “have to absorb the major global developments of its
time,” Jaishankar said.
Speaking of his recent visits to Africa, the external affairs minister observed that Africa needed to have a
“stronger voice” in the G20, and his visits highlighted how strongly India felt about this.
He reiterated PM Modi’s conviction that the African Union must have permanent membership in the G20,
pointing out that “Africa is also the continent of promise – in terms of its demographics, talent, resources, and
strategic location. More broadly, the underrepresented voices of the Global South must be taken to the G20,
because the Group has weight, authority, and a real ability to shape the future”.
Jaishankar was also optimistic about the continuity between the Indian and Brazilian Presidencies because
of the G20’s long-standing tradition of closeness between members of the troika.
“The idea of the troika is to share and build upon the experiences of one’s predecessor and to be able to
take decisions as a trio,” he added.
Addressing a question about the need to reform multilateralism, Jaishankar said that multilateralism, as it
stands today, is “anachronistic”.
“The absence of Asia and Latin America from the UN leadership is detrimental to the UN, and the more
formal multilateralism fails us, other groups like the BRICS, the Quad or the G20 will be left to pick up the
slack,” Jaishankar added.
During the event, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the UN General Assembly lauded India for
prioritising women-led development.
Minister of External Affairs said that this was an issue whose importance PM Modi had underscored
repeatedly; and noted that “women are the glue that holds families and communities together”, and
“women’s leadership at the workplace has also been a subject of great focus in India”

Jaishankar further stated that every instance of social progress has reflected the well-being of women, and
expressed his hope that women-led development would be a point of emphasis at the G20 Leaders’ Summit
as well.
Meanwhile, 200 participants from 35 countries and nearly 110 institutions are being hosted at the T20
Summit. They include diplomats, policy planners, heads of think tanks and research institutions, civil society
organisations, multilateral agencies, and eminent thinkers whose collective agency will ensure rich and
diverse discussions at the Summit.
The T20 Summit is hosted by the Observer Research Foundation under the aegis of India’s G20 Presidency.
(ANI)