A TIGHTROPE WALK

INDIA'S G20 PRESIDENCY IS NOT WITHOUT CHALLENGES-BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL

- SHASHI THAROOR

When India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022, from Indonesia, with the theme of Vasudhaiva W Kutumbakam or 'One Earth. One Family. One Future, many around the world assumed it would be a fairly routine chairmanship, assigned as it was by rotation among the grouping's members. It has proved to be anything but. As the chair of the G20, India has taken on the responsibility with breathtaking enthusiasm, hosting over 200 meetings in close to 60 cities across 32 workstreams. Wherever G20 officials have met in India, they have been greeted with gigantic billboards announcing their event in spruced-up cities, towns and resorts. The capital is getting yet another makeover as the September summit of world leaders looms. It is fair to say that no G20 chair has yet mounted as spectacular a chairmanship as India's year-long extravaganza, showcasing it as a global player and even as "the mother of democracy".

India has been hosting a vast range of meetings, workshops, seminars and dialogues on various topics related to the G20 agenda to demonstrate that it has a unique role to play in confronting and overcoming global challenges by using its long tradition of being inclusive and open to collaborating with all countries. At the same time, it has sought to position itself as the voice of the global south, serving in some ways as a successor to the largely otiose, if not entirely defunct, non-aligned movement and the G-77.