India’s Growing Strategic Role in the G20

• India’s economic growth is also picking up after a deep slump caused by the pandemic
• The successful endorsement of the Global corporate minimum tax of 15%, to be levied on multinational companies looks like a measure of Geo-Welfarism
• India’s global stature is significantly growing and the developed western world which is facing a crisis in the international sphere, is looking up to India to lead the way for developing stable multilateral partnerships and stitching up concrete strategic alliances. 
• WHO would be adopting the Indian model of vaccination drive in the poorer countries of Africa and Latin America

The recently concluded G20 summit at Rome has proven to be a testimony of a rapidly changing world order. The traditional European powers of the 20th century have taken a backseat, reeling under economic recession, political instabilities and an added burden of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The case with the USA, Brazil, Australia and other western countries are also simmering in a state of strategic ambiguity.

In this scenario, India has emerged as a significant player, capable of shaping the future course of action in international affairs. By achieving a fair amount of success in managing the first wave of COVID-19, and by registering a formidable success of the COVID vaccination program by inoculating more than 1 billion doses of vaccine, India has reached a glorious milestone, towards which a majority of the countries in the world have failed to reach. 

This political strength and resilience is also reflected in the stern participation, deciding the key international and geopolitical issues, by India in the G20.

India’s economic growth is also picking up after a deep slump caused by the pandemic. The IMF and World Bank have also predicted a very bright economic trajectory for India in the coming years. India’s strong and resilient leadership at the union government through its series of reforms and policies in National Security, Agriculture, Economy, Telecom, Labour, Aviation and several other sectors has proven to obtain the public mandate, through its efficient and effective policy implementation measures. This political strength and resilience is also reflected in the stern participation, deciding the key international and geopolitical issues, by India in the G20.

Significance Of G20 And India’s Growing Prominence In The Western World

The G20 international forum brings together the world’s major economies. Its members account for more than 80% of the world GDP, 75% of global trade and 60% of the population of the planet. The issues and topics discussed in the G20 and the decisions taken by them have a predominant effect on world politics and steer the direction of geopolitical strategies. In this Rome edition of G20 summit 2021, the main focus areas were:

• Pandemic recovery
• Climate fight 
• Tackling cross border terrorism
• Developing new and renewable energy

The motto of this summit was “ Planet, People and Prosperity”. The global leaders proactively participated and met their counterparts through bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit. While global leaders agreed to commit to the key Paris agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the industrial levels, they failed to come up with a time-bound promise on this critical climate change action. But however, the successful endorsement of the Global corporate minimum tax of 15%, to be levied on multinational companies looks like a measure of Geo-Welfarism.

While global leaders agreed to commit to the key Paris agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the industrial levels, they failed to come up with a time-bound promise on this critical climate change action.

The role of India in this current G20 summit proves to be a strategic one because, amongst all other global leaders, the Indian Prime Minister had bilateral meetings with the highest number of leaders, the prominent ones being the USA, the UK and France. Every country at the summit was keen to strengthen its alliance and partnership with India both on the economic front and the military front. India’s COVID vaccination program has turned out to become a global model and a case study for the mass vaccination drives to be carried across the world. 

As per one of the sources, the WHO would be adopting the Indian model of vaccination drive in the poorer countries of Africa and Latin America, and this strategy seems to have been extensively discussed in the G20 summit by the WHO representatives. In correspondence to this, the G20 leaders adopted the ‘Rome Declaration’ and the countries agreed that the COVID 19 immunization is a global public good.

WHO would be adopting the Indian model of vaccination drive in the poorer countries of Africa and Latin America, and this strategy seems to have been extensively discussed in the G20 summit by the WHO representatives.

The Indian Prime minister has also described the G20 summit as “Fruitful” and said that world leaders had elaborate deliberations on issues of global importance such as fighting the pandemic, improving the health infrastructure, boosting economic cooperation and furthering innovation.

Overall we can say that India’s global stature is significantly growing and the developed western world which is facing a crisis in the international sphere, is looking up to India to lead the way for developing stable multilateral partnerships and stitching up concrete strategic alliances. If the 21st-century world is deemed to be navigated by the onset of the Asian age, India has the potential to be the flag bearer of this age, especially as a civilizational nation, with modern liberal-democratic credentials.

Viswapramod C

Viswapramod is a PhD Scholar at the Department of International Studies and Political Science, Christ University, Bangalore. He has an MA in International Relations. Views expressed are the author’s own.