India’s G-20 presidency: Can India bridge a divided global order?

The contemporary World is sharply divided. The divisions are caused both by geo-political polarisation but more strikingly by the unequal levels of socio-economic development. Historically, during the cold war era the world was divided based on ideological alliances: those aligned to relatively more prosperous capitalist and democratic countries e.g. USA, Europe etc) were categorised as First World countries; those countries which were aligned to the communist ideology such as Soviet Union, China, East European nations etc fell in the Second World countries and finally the bulk of the countries which were largely non-aligned and also relatively poor and under-developed or developing were collectively referred to as Third World. The demise of the USSR and the end of the cold war saw the gradual merger of the then Second World countries into First World. Resultantly we now had the First World and the Third World.

Currently, the popular categorisation divides the world into two broad categories: global north and global south though in geographic terms, some of the countries such as Australia, and New Zealand are located in the Southern hemisphere but are part of the global north. 

The global north is comprised of rich and developed countries such as the USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand Japan, and South Korea whereas the global South includes poor and underdeveloped or developing countries located in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 

The north of the divide is comprised of countries which have developed economies and account for over 90% of all manufacturing industries in the world. Although these countries account for only one-quarter of the total global population, they control 80% of the total income earned around the world. All the members of the G8 come from the North as well as four permanent members of the UN Security Council. About 95% of the population in countries in the north have enough basic needs and have access to functioning education systems. Countries comprising the North include The United States, Canada, all countries in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand as well as the developed countries in Asia such as Japan and South Korea.

An important characteristic of countries in the south is the relatively low GDP and the high population. The third world accounts for only a fifth of the globally earned income but accounts for over three-quarters of the global population. Another common characteristic of the countries in the South is the lack of basic amenities. As little as 5% of the population is able to access basic needs such as food and shelter. The economies of most countries in the south rely on imports from the North and have low technological penetration. 

Where does India stand?

Technically India is a part of the global south. However India of 2020s is acknowledged as fast growing and emerging economy; it has shown resilience in the wake of several global crisis: Asian currency crisis of the 1990s; the financial meltdown in 2007, the Covid pandemic, disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict etc. India is associated with key regional and global organisations within and outside the UN system such as ASEAN, SCO, BRICS, QUAD I2U2 and so on. India is invited to G 8(now G 7) deliberations and is a member of G 20. In short, India has acquired the stature of an important global player and influencer in shaping the global agenda. India has set itself the goal to become a developed country by 2047. At this point in time, India can be said to be in a fast transition from global south to the global north.

South to global north

How Can India use its stature to Bridge the Divided World?

In the past, India had promoted the political and security interests of the developing world through its leadership of NAM; it has also promoted the trade and economic interests of the developing world through its initiatives at G 77 within the framework of the UN institutions.

On a bilateral basis, India has been sharing its resources and expertise with the developing world for the past seven decades. Initially, the emphasis was on capacity building by offering training programmes under its ITEC programme. The scale and scope of India’s assistance have widened substantially to include aid and grants, loans, Lines of Credit and humanitarian assistance in an hour of need such as natural calamities. India’s development cooperation and assistance as a rule is benign and non-prescriptive. 

India’s bilateral Development Assistance/ Cooperation Programme is an important one of the ways for the empowerment of the Global South. The other way is to do so in collaboration with global partners. And it is in this context India’s G 20 Presidency for 2023 assumes great importance.

By holding the global south summit in the year of G-20 presidency and inviting some of the key countries of the global South for the G- 20, India has signalled its determination to project the priorities of the global south to the most developed countries through the mechanisms of G-20 with an ultimate objective of empowering the global south and bridging and narrowing the north-south divide.

Area where India can push the interests of the global south

The global south primarily needs capital, technology and capacity building to address issues of underdevelopment, poverty and challenges posed by climate change. G-20 presidency provides an excellent opportunity for India to push for fast-tracking action and reforms in important areas such as climate finance, energy transition to green energy, digital divide, democratisation of the global financial system and institutions of global governance to make them more representative and responsive to the needs of global South;  food security cutting across North and South, exacerbated in particular by the disruptions in supply chains caused by Russia-Ukraine conflict. In this context, India has an opportunity for campaigning against the imposition of restrictions on food or fertilisers and keeping the supply chains open. India can also make a case for promoting innovations to create more synergies in agriculture, food technology and biotechnology in order to improve food and nutrition security. Several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are meant to benefit the poorest of the poor. India will get a chance at G-20 to reemphasise a bigger role for the private sector in accelerating SDGs by proactively increasing financial flows for it and further investments for low-and middle-income countries through innovative financing sources and instruments.

The disparities and inequalities are so wide that it would be unrealistic to expect that India’s presidency of G-20 can eliminate them overnight; however, India is in an eminent position to accelerate the reduction of the gap and bridge the divide. It is interesting that India has taken over G 20 Presidency from another developing country (Indonesia) and will hand it over to another developing country (Brazil) who in turn will hand it over to yet another developing country (South Africa). India, Brazil and South Africa are also partners in BRICS, which established New Development Bank to address the financial needs of poor and developing countries, which are said to face discrimination at the hands of the IMF, and the World Bank.  One can therefore hope that Brazil and South Africa will provide some continuity to India’s initiatives on the global agenda including in areas of concern to the global south.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)