PM Modi at G20 Meet: Global governance failed in preventing future wars and fostering international cooperation

Addressing the opening segment of G20 Foreign Ministers through a video message in New Delhi, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed the belief that today’s meeting will reflect the spirit of coming together for achieving common and concrete objectives. The Prime Minister underlined that today’s meeting is taking place at a time of deep global divisions and as Foreign Ministers, it is only natural that the discussions are affected by the geo-political tensions of the day. Mr Modi further said that G20 member nations have their own positions and perspectives on how these tensions should be resolved. He emphasized that as the leading economies of the world, the responsibility lies with G20. Prime Modi remarked that the world looks upon the G20 to ease the challenges of growth, development, economic resilience, disaster resilience, financial stability, transnational crime, corruption, terrorism, and food and energy security. He also said that G20 has the capacity to build consensus and deliver concrete results in all these areas. He emphasized that resolutions for issues that cannot be addressed together should not come in the way of those that can be resolved. Emphasising that the meeting is taking place in the land of Gandhi and the Buddha, the Prime Minister urged the dignitaries to draw inspiration from India’s civilizational ethos of focusing not on what divides us, but on what unites us all.

The Prime Minister noted that Post World War global governance failed in both its mandates of preventing future wars and fostering international cooperation on issues of common interests. He further added that the tragic consequences of this failure are being faced mostly by all the developing countries and the world is at risk of rescinding Sustainable Development after years of progress.

The Prime Minister claimed that many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debt while trying to ensure food and energy security for their people. He also noted that it is developing countries that are most affected by global warming caused by rich countries. The Prime Minister remarked that India’s G20 Presidency has tried to give a voice to the Global South and also pointed out that no group can claim global leadership without listening to those most affected by its decisions. Mr Modi said that the G20 has a critical role to play in finding the right balance between growth and efficiency on one hand and resilience on the other. He suggested that this balance can be achieved more easily by working together.