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India
OpinionComment
Chietigj Bajpaee
Chietigj Bajpaee

Opinion | Why India’s G20 triumph means much more than the tangible results

  • New Delhi is framing the summit as the country’s coming-out party, capping a year of milestones and on a par with the Beijing 2008 Olympics
  • India has hit a geopolitical sweet spot, and is in a stronger position today than it was the last time it had a prominent international role, under Nehru

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets members of the media after the closing of G20 summit in New Delhi on September 10. India’s G20 success is the culmination to a year of milestones for the country, including the recent moon landing, the red-carpet welcome for Modi in Washington, and India surpassing China as the world’s most populous country and the United Kingdom as the world’s fifth largest economy. Photo: EPA-EFE
Chietigj Bajpaee
The symbolic outcomes of the recent G20 summit in India are as significant as the tangible outcomes.
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With its Group of 20 presidency, India has managed to democratise the summit both within the country – by hosting G20-related events across the country and thus opening what has historically been a largely elite-driven event to the masses – and globally by raising the voice of the Global South. Notably, the African Union was added as a new permanent member, effectively turning the G20 into the G21.

India’s G20 presidency brought India to the world, but it also brought the world to India as it served to invigorate public debate on global issues while simultaneously highlighting the growing importance of India to the world. This will undoubtedly be another feather in the cap of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of next year’s general election (which could partially explain New Delhi’s decision to delay assuming its G20 presidency by a year by swapping with the intended 2023 host, Indonesia).

The Modi government has referred to India as “vishwa guru” – a teacher of the world offering Indian solutions to issues of global governance ranging from climate change to digital public infrastructure and global health. India’s commitment to globalisation – albeit a more equitable model of globalisation – also contrasts with the more insular world view that has taken hold in the West in recent years.

In getting the disparate group of G20 countries to sign off on a joint statement – an outcome that had been in doubt – India highlighted its convening power, collaborative approach and ability to get things done. In this context, India is not only a voice of the Global South, but also a potential bridge between the Global South and the West (prompting a reference to India as a “South Western country”).
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However, this symbolic triumph is a double-edged sword. India’s G20 presidency also reflected the challenges of navigating a climate of growing geopolitical polarisation amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and widening fissures in the US-China relationship.

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