Opinion – Narendra Modi: India starts G20 Presidency with human being at the center

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The 17 previous Presidencies of the G20 have delivered significant results in ensuring macroeconomic stability, streamlining international taxation, easing countries’ debt burden, among many other results. We will benefit from these achievements and continue to build on them.

However, as India takes up this important mantle, I wonder: can the G20 go even further? Can we catalyze a fundamental mindset shift to benefit humanity as a whole? I believe we can.

Our mindsets are shaped by our circumstances. Throughout all of history, humanity has 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, even today we remain trapped in the same zero-sum mentality. We see this when countries fight over territory or resources. We see this when supplies of essential goods become weapons. We see this when vaccines are hoarded by the few, even when billions remain vulnerable.

Some might argue that confrontation and greed are just human nature. I disagree. If human beings were inherently selfish, what would explain the enduring appeal of so many spiritual traditions that uphold the fundamental oneness of us all?

One such tradition, popular in India, sees all living beings, and even inanimate things, as composed of the same five basic elements: panch tatva of earth, water, fire, air and space. The harmony between these elements –within us and between us– is essential for our physical, social and environmental well-being.

India’s G20 Presidency will work to promote this universal sense of oneness. Hence our theme “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. This is not just a slogan. It takes into account recent changes in human circumstances, which we collectively do not appreciate.

Today we have the means to produce enough to meet the basic needs of all people in the world. Today we don’t need to fight for our survival, so our era doesn’t have to be an era of war. In fact, it shouldn’t be one!

Today the biggest challenges we face –climate change, terrorism and pandemics– can be solved not by fighting each other, but only by acting together. Fortunately, today’s technology also gives us the means to tackle problems on a human scale. The huge virtual worlds we inhabit demonstrate the scalability of digital technologies.

Inhabiting one-sixth of humanity, and with its immense diversity of languages, religions, customs and beliefs, India is a microcosm of the world. With the oldest traditions of collective decision-making, it contributes to the foundational DNA of democracy. As the mother of democracy, national consensus is forged not by diktat but by blending millions of free voices into a harmonious melody.

Today, India is the fastest growing major economy. Our citizen-centric model of governance cares for even our most marginalized citizens, while nurturing the creative genius of our talented youth. We try to make national development not a top-down governance exercise, but a citizen-led “grassroots movement”.

We leverage technology to create digital public goods that are open, inclusive and interoperable. These have provided revolutionary progress in fields as varied as social protection, financial inclusion and electronic payments. For all these reasons, India’s experiences can provide insights into possible global solutions.

During our G20 Presidency, we will present India’s experiences, learnings and models as possible models for others, particularly for the developing world.

Our G20 priorities will be shaped in consultation not only with our G20 partners, but also with our fellow travelers in the global South, whose voices often go unheard. Our priorities will focus on healing our “One Earth”, creating harmony within our “One Family” and giving hope for our “One Future”.

To heal our planet, we will encourage sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyles, based on the Indian tradition of trusting nature. To promote harmony within the human family, we will seek to depoliticize the global supply of food, fertilizer and medical products so that geopolitical tensions do not lead to humanitarian crises. As in our own families, those whose needs are greatest must always be our first concern.

To instill hope in our future generations, we will encourage honest conversation among the most powerful countries about mitigating the risks posed by weapons of mass destruction and increasing global security.

India’s G20 agenda will be inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented. Let us come together to make the Indian G20 Presidency one of healing, harmony and hope. Let’s work together to shape a new paradigm: that of human-centered globalization.

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