Inclusive growth focus of India’s G-20 priorities: S. Jaishankar

New Delhi: India’s priorities for its G-20 Presidency are to ensure inclusive and resilient growth with a focus on challenges being faced by the countries of the Global South, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Jaishankar also listed technological transformation and public digital infrastructure, reform in the multilateral institutions, women-led development and international peace and harmony as key focus areas for India’s presidency of the grouping.

India officially assumed the G-20 Presidency on Dec 1, 2022. India had assumed the presidency of the influential bloc G-20 with a promise of striving to ensure that the grouping acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action to deal with pressing challenges.

“India’s G20 Presidency priorities are inclusive and pragmatic, with broad areas of substantive deliberations comprising inclusive and resilient growth, progress on SDGs, green development and lifestyle for environment, technological transformation and public digital infrastructure, reforming multilateral institutions, women-led development, and international peace and harmony,” Jaishankar said.

“It is our endeavor that inputs generated from the ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ receive cognizance globally, including in G-20 deliberations,” he said.

India’s G-20 Presidency has the largest-ever representation from Africa with six participants, Jaishankar said. He informed the parliament that in addition to South Africa, Egypt, Mauritius, Nigeria, Chair of African Union and Chair of AUDA-NEPAD have been invited to participate in G-20 meetings and the summit. South Africa is a member of the G-20.

The African Union (AU) is an influential grouping consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African continent. The AUDA-NEPAD was established in 2010 to integrate the then New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) into African Union (AU) structures and processes.

Jaishankar said India has always been a voice of the Global South, including for the “African friends and partners”.

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