Modi: India\'s G-20 Presidency will be inclusive, ambitious and decisive

Bali: Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the G-20 grouping on Wednesday that "India's G-20 presidency will be inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented."

The Prime Minister said that India will "strive to ensure that the G-20 acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action" and is "a catalyst for global change". He added that the "G-20 has to convey a strong message in favour of peace and harmony."

Addressing the closing session of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, during which India symbolically assumed the presidency of the G-20, Mr Modi said, "It is a proud occasion for every Indian to assume the G-20 presidency." He added that India will "organise G-20 meetings in different cities and states" so that "our guests will get a full experience of India's amazing diversity, inclusive traditions and cultural richness."

India will formally assume the G-20 presidency on December 1.

Mr Modi said: "India is taking charge of the G-20 at a time when the world is simultaneously grappling with geopolitical tensions, an economic slowdown, rising food and energy prices and the long-term ill-effects of the pandemic. At such a time, the world is looking at the G-20 with hope. Today, I want to assure that India's G-20 presidency will be inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented."

Congratulating Indonesian President Joko Widodo for holding the presidency of the G-20 with "effective leadership" and hosting the summit, Mr Modi said, "India will strive to take forward Indonesia's commendable initiatives during its G-20 presidency. It is a very auspicious coincidence for India that we are assuming the responsibility of the G-20 presidency on this holy island of Bali. India and Bali have an age-old relationship."

Mr Modi further said: "The sense of ownership over natural resources is giving rise to conflict today and has become the main cause of the plight of the environment. For the safe future of the planet, sense of trusteeship is the solution. LiFE, i.e., 'Lifestyle for Environment' campaign, can make a big contribution to this. Its purpose is to make sustainable lifestyles a mass movement. The need today is that the benefits of development are universal and all-inclusive. We have to extend the benefits of development to all human beings with compassion and solidarity."

He added: "Global development is not possible without women's participation. We have to maintain priority on women-led development even in our G-20 agenda. Without peace and security, our future generations will not be able to take advantage of economic growth or technological innovation. The G-20 has to convey a strong message in favour of peace and harmony. All these priorities are fully embodied in the theme of India's G-20 chairmanship – One Earth, One Family, One Future."

Earlier in the day, at the third session of the G-20 on "digital transformation", Mr Modi said that "during its G-20 presidency next year, India will work jointly with G-20 partners" and that "the principle of 'data for development' will be an integral part of the overall theme of our presidency."

The Prime Minister pointed out: "In India, we are making digital access public, but at the international level, there is still a huge digital divide. Citizens of most developing countries of the world do not have any kind of digital identity. Only 50 countries have digital payment systems. Can we take a pledge together that in the next ten years we will bring digital transformation in the life of every human being, so that no person in the world will be deprived of the benefits of digital technology?"

Detailing India's successes, Mr Modi said, "India's experience of the past few years has shown us that if we make digital architecture inclusive, it can bring about socio-economic transformation. Digital use can bring scale and speed. Transparency can be brought into governance. India has developed digital public goods whose basic architecture has in-built democratic principles."

Citing the example of India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI), he said, "Last year, over 40 per cent of the world's real-time payment transactions took place through UPI. Similarly, we opened 460 million new bank accounts on the basis of digital identity, making India a global leader in financial inclusion today. Our open source CoWIN platform made the biggest vaccination campaign in human history, a success even during the pandemic."