Will G20 leaders address global issues and help India in its development journey?

By Sandeep Chachra*

Like most international bodies, the G20 carries with it both hope and cause for concern. While member countries represent 85% of the global GDP and two-thirds of the world population, the G7 nations remain influential.

The G7 countries bear the guilt of the most critical global issues, including climate change, the historical crime of colonialism, and the continuing unequal terms of trade.

The transition of the G20 Presidency from Indonesia to India, soon to be followed by Brazil, represented a valuable opportunity for fostering a more inclusive world order. This is a crucial moment as challenges such as pandemics, conflicts, economic upheavals, and the impact of climate change threaten to push millions of people back into poverty and oppression.

The cooperation and leadership of these nations hold the promise of contributing to a better world, even in the face of these formidable challenges. Furthermore, this year’s G20 summit’s theme is “One Earth. One Family. One Future,” which makes it even more imperative for nations to work together to end all conflicts and find common ground in advancing the well-being of people worldwide.

We see four major areas where India has and can play a significant role. These include climate justice and environmental protection, addressing global inequality by leading the path to debt cancellation for countries in the Global South, creating a new vision for women’s empowerment and ending patriarchy, and enabling the Global South to assert a proactive role in international decision-making forums.

G20 can take first measure to cancel debt of countries in Global South, a move that would mainly benefit least developed countries

For climate justice to become a reality, there is a critical requirement for India to take the lead in empowering indigenous communities and engaging them in decision-making processes to facilitate climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. In advancing global equality, the G20 can take the first measure to cancel the debt of countries in the Global South, a move that would mainly benefit the least developed countries and several of Africa’s diverse nations.

The positive impact on people from the global south would be immense, especially if debt cancellation would encourage pathways promoting public services, social welfare, job creation and access to livelihood opportunities. The time has come for the global community to ensure gender equality within this century.

While legal frameworks for women’s rights exist in most countries, achieving gender equality in social and economic spheres remains challenging. Advocating for women-led development, as India is proposing, can be impactful for the future of societies.

Finally, India has long been a leader of the global south, and this legacy continues and stands exemplified by recent efforts in the BRICS meeting to advocate for the inclusion of more global south countries within BRICS. A similar approach is needed within the G20, carrying forward the spirit of Bandung and promoting south-south cooperation. India’s strong pitch for including the African Union as a full member of the G20 is a welcome step in this direction.

---

*Executive Director, ActionAid Association

Comments

Grueling summer ahead: Cuttack’s alarming health trends and what they mean for Odisha

By Sudhansu R Das The preparation to face the summer should begin early in Odisha. People in the state endure long, grueling summer months starting from mid-February and extending until the end of October. This prolonged heat adversely affects productivity, causes deaths and diseases, and impacts agriculture, tourism and the unorganized sector. The social, economic and cultural life of the state remains severely disrupted during the peak heat months.

Stronger India–Russia partnership highlights a missed energy breakthrough

By N.S. Venkataraman* The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India was widely publicized across several countries and has attracted significant global attention. The warmth with which Mr. Putin was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was particularly noted, prompting policy planners worldwide to examine the implications of this cordial relationship for the global economy and political climate. India–Russia relations have stood on a strong foundation for decades and have consistently withstood geopolitical shifts. This is in marked contrast to India’s ties with the United States, which have experienced fluctuations under different U.S. administrations.

From natural farming to fair prices: Young entrepreneurs show a new path

By Bharat Dogra There have been frequent debates on agro-business companies not showing adequate concern for the livelihoods of small farmers. Farmers’ unions have often protested—generally with good reason—that while they do not receive fair returns despite high risks and hard work, corporate interests that merely process the crops produced by farmers earn disproportionately high profits. Hence, there is a growing demand for alternative models of agro-business development that demonstrate genuine commitment to protecting farmer livelihoods.

The Vande Mataram debate and the politics of manufactured controversy

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The recent Vande Mataram debate in Parliament was never meant to foster genuine dialogue. Each political party spoke past the other, addressing its own constituency, ensuring that clips went viral rather than contributing to meaningful deliberation. The objective was clear: to construct a Hindutva narrative ahead of the Bengal elections. Predictably, the Lok Sabha will likely expunge the opposition’s “controversial” remarks while retaining blatant inaccuracies voiced by ministers and ruling-party members. The BJP has mastered the art of inserting distortions into parliamentary records to provide them with a veneer of historical legitimacy.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Why India must urgently strengthen its policies for an ageing population

By Bharat Dogra A quiet but far-reaching demographic transformation is reshaping much of the world. As life expectancy rises and birth rates fall, societies are witnessing a rapid increase in the proportion of older people. This shift has profound implications for public policy, and the need to strengthen frameworks for healthy and secure ageing has never been more urgent. India is among the countries where these pressures will intensify most sharply in the coming decades.

The cost of being Indian: How inequality and market logic redefine rights

By Vikas Gupta We, the people of India, are engaged in a daily tryst—read: struggle—for basic human rights. For the seemingly well-to-do, the wish list includes constant water supply, clean air, safe roads, punctual public transportation, and crime-free neighbourhoods. For those further down the ladder, the struggle is starker: food that fills the stomach, water that doesn’t sicken, medicines that don’t kill, houses that don’t flood, habitats at safe distances from polluted streams or garbage piles, and exploitation-free environments in the public institutions they are compelled to navigate.

Thota Sitaramaiah: An internal pillar of an underground organisation

By Harsh Thakor* Thota Sitaramaiah was regarded within his circles as an example of the many individuals whose work in various underground movements remained largely unknown to the wider public. While some leaders become visible through organisational roles or media attention, many others contribute quietly, without public recognition. Sitaramaiah was considered one such figure. He passed away on December 8, 2025, at the age of 65.

Bangladesh alternative more vital for NE India than Kaladan project in Myanmar

By Mehjabin Bhanu* There has been a recent surge in the number of Chin refugees entering Mizoram from the adjacent nation as a result of airstrikes by the Myanmar Army on ethnic insurgents and intense fighting along the border between India and Myanmar. Uncertainty has surrounded India's Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport project, which uses Sittwe port in Myanmar, due to the recent outbreak of hostilities along the Mizoram-Myanmar border. Construction on the road portion of the Kaladan project, which runs from Paletwa in Myanmar to Zorinpui in Mizoram, was resumed thanks to the time of relative calm during the intermittent period. However, recent unrest has increased concerns about missing the revised commissioning goal dates. The project's goal is to link northeastern states with the rest of India via an alternate route, using the Sittwe port in Myanmar. In addition to this route, India can also connect the region with the rest of India through Assam by using the Chittagon...

Search This Blog