India assumes G 20 presidency as PM Modi stresses Human-centric Globalisation

India's G20 agenda will be inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented, and decisive.

NEW DELHI. India took a quantum leap on the world stage on December 1 as it assumed the Presidency of the G20 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi promising to shape a new paradigm of human-centric globalisation.

Equally significantly, India assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council with Ruchira Kamboj, India's Permanent Representative at the world body taking over the position on December 1.

As India commenced its G20 Presidency, Modi penned an extensive blog in which he said: The previous 17 Presidencies of the G20 delivered significant results - for ensuring macro-economic stability, rationalising international taxation, relieving debt-burden on countries, among many other outcomes. We will benefit from these achievements, and build further upon them.

However, as India assumes this important mantle, I ask myself can the G20 go further still? Can we catalyse a fundamental mindset shift, to benefit humanity as a whole?

I believe we can. 

Our mindsets are shaped by our circumstances. Through all of history, humanity lived in scarcity. We fought for limited resources, because our survival depended on denying them to others. Confrontation and competition - between ideas, ideologies and identities - became the norm.

Unfortunately, we remain trapped in the same zero-sum mindset even today. We see it when countries fight over territory or resources. We see it when supplies of essential goods are weaponised. We see it when vaccines are hoarded by a few, even as billions remain vulnerable.