Kampala: India would like to use its G20 presidency to get the influential forum focussed on its mandate of global growth and development, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said here Tuesday.
Addressing members of the Parliamentary Forum on Indian Affairs in Uganda, he said India’s G20 presidency is different in the sense that no other chair has made an effort to consult all the countries from the Global South.
India will make efforts to include concerns of the Global South in the G20 framework under its presidency of the influential bloc.
India assumed the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1 last year. The G20 Summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9-10 this year.
The G20 meetings are being held across 56 cities, covering all 28 states and 8 Union Territories of India.
Jaishankar said India would like to use the G20 presidency to get the forum focussed on its mandate which is global growth and development and issues important for Uganda.
“Issues of green growth, debt, Sustainable Development Goals, digital delivery. We would like the G20 to focus on all these issues,” he said.
He said India’s G20 presidency is different in the sense that no other chair has made an effort to consult all the countries from the Global South and say, “Look you are not on the table, what are the things you want, what are your concerns that we can put on the table on your behalf.”
“We went through this exhaustive exercise in the month of January and naturally Uganda was a participant as well.
The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.
It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union (EU).
Jaishankar, who is on a two-nation visit to Uganda and Mozambique from April 10-15, also reiterates India’s full support to Uganda for a very successful chairship of the Non-Alignment Movement.
PTI
