'G20 will set the tone for WB, IMF reform'

As the world looks to India to champion the cause of the ‘global south’, India’s Sherpa to G20, Amitabh Kant, shares the progress and goals, including advocating for a comprehensive overhaul of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. G20 officials met at the backwaters of Kumarakom, Kerala, for the second Sherpa meeting to address priority areas identified by India during its presidency. India aims to set an ambitious agenda for the G20 amid the current global turbulence of geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges. Edited excerpts from an interview:

- N Madhavan

You have said that the second Sherpa Meeting was both substantive and forward-looking. Are you confident about setting an ambitious agenda?

All the G20 countries want us to be ambitious and action-oriented. They realize this is a period of great upheaval - a period of great turbulence in the world.

The world is also looking at India’s G20 presidency to re-energize the path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) where things have slipped badly…