The Indian delegation, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was in Rome to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit. PM Modi held a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and also paid a visit to Pope Francis. Both of them discussed issues ranging from climate crisis, poverty, Covid-19, general global perspectives and maintaining peace and tranquillity. It is the first-ever one-to-one meeting between PM Modi and Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church. He also met French President Emmanuel Macron and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the margins of the summit and reviewed bilateral relations.
India achieved major success at the Group of 20 Leaders’ Summit in Italy as it, along with other developing nations, was able to introduce the language on what actions are required to be taken, especially by the developed countries, to achieve the energy and climate goals.
The G20 leaders committed to the key goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but for the first time, they identified sustainable and responsible consumption and production as “critical enablers” in achieving the goal.
The G20 leaders fell short on announcing a target of zero emissions, a call India had rejected ahead of the Summit and the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Leaders of G20 nations, including India, US, China, and Russia have called for clear national plans that “align long-term ambition with short- and medium-term goals, and with international cooperation and support”.
In his intervention at the summit of the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies, Modi highlighted India’s contribution to the fight against Covid-19, including the provision of medical supplies to more than 150 countries, and outlined the country’s vision of “one earth, one health”, which is aimed at a collaborative approach in the international domain in the fight against Covid-19.
While pointing to the need for resilient global supply chains, Modi mentioned India’s economic reforms and steps to lower the cost of doing business and invited G20 states to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.
The Italian G20 presidency has focused on the three broad pillars of “people, planet and prosperity.” Pressing issues such as health, food security, agriculture, climate change, social protection, gender equality, the digital economy and post-Covid travel have been deliberated in the summit.
