G20: India shows the way to “One Earth, One Family, One Future”
Red: Member countries of the G20
Purple: Countries represented through the membership of the European Union
Green: Countries represented through the membership of the African Union
Mustard: Countries permanently invited (Spain)
As Brazil assumes the presidency and will host the 2024 G20, I hope they will continue with the diversity and inclusivity exemplified in the 2023 G20 by India. The recent G20 — Summit concluded successfully in New Delhi, India on the 9th and 10th of September 2023, with a consensus document on all 83 paragraphs unanimously approved by all countries, which many observers hailed as a historic achievement. The G20 is an informal group of 19 sovereign countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, United Kingdom and United States) and the European Union as permanent members working towards international economic development. The G20 represents most of the world’s population, GDP and global trade.
What was different about this G20 meeting compared with the previous meetings was that India remained true to the 2023 G20 motto of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” (referred to as Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam in Sanskrit). What does this really mean and how has it united a diverse country like India?
As examples of the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, during the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to vaccine availability, my sister, her husband, and mother-in-law contracted COVID-19 that affected them with significant fatigue. For two weeks, their family, friends and neighbors took turns to provide them with fresh home-cooked food. Similarly, in my cousin’s community, every family provided fresh home-cooked food for others who were diagnosed with COVID-19. A friend of mine cooked and supplied fresh food to over 100 workers who had relocated from their hometowns for employment and could not return to their families due to the lockdown. None of these providers accepted payment for their efforts. Likewise, when the Delta wave was sweeping the nation, public and private industries, non-governmental organizations, and individuals provided help in several ways, including free transport for oxygen tanks, temporary tents for triaging, providing short-term oxygen as needed, transporting people to these tents or hospitals, and providing food. Additionally, India, along with vaccinating its 1.4 billion citizens, shared its vaccines with other countries in the global south that had a difficult time with vaccine procurement. This was while a number of the developed nations hoarded more than their requirement of vaccines, either refusing to share them with other countries or insisting on unreasonable conditions such as “financial indemnity of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers by national governments” to provide the vaccines. These are some examples of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam which emphasizes inclusivity and helping one another for the betterment of all.
India assumed the presidency of G20 on December 1st, 2022. India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, understood that for any global development to happen and be sustainable, all countries from the Global South, including those from the African continent, also needed to develop. Knowing that most of these countries do not have a seat at the table, he invited 125 mostly developing countries to a virtual meeting in January to discuss their needs so they could be represented well at the G20. Additionally, India recommended that the African Union, consisting of 55 countries, be made a permanent member of the G20. They had previously been an “invited international organization” and South Africa was the only permanent member representing the African continent.
The main themes for the G20 meetings and workshops were Green Development, Climate Finance & Lifestyle For Environment (LiFE), Accelerated, Inclusive & Resilient Growth, and Accelerating Progress on Sustainable Development Goals. Meetings were held in various cities across India, in an effort to not only introduce the vast diversity of the country to the foreign delegates, but also to create an awareness among the Indian population of the global policies that may affect their lives. According to Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs “ More than 220 high-level meetings have been conducted in the past year in 60 locations with participation of more than 1 lakh (100,000) foreigners”.
For the first time, countries in the Global South have been asked to participate in discussions that will help them develop, rather than those in the Global North (e.g., the G7) deciding the solutions for international development. India has shown the G20 that the global community is stronger with diverse voices working towards a common purpose. This Sanskrit saying embodies the message: Ekyam Balam Samajasya Tadbhave Sa Durbalaha; Tasmat Ekyam Prashansanthi Dhrudam Rashtra Hitaishinaha (Unity is the strength of a society and in its absence, society is weak; Therefore, those who seek the welfare of the nation (society) firmly praise unity).
Image by 5225C, authors of BlankMap-World.png — This PNG map includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this map:, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=137240289.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of BUSPH.
Acknowledgement: I thank Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor and Dr. David S Morgan for their valuable suggestions.
