മെക്‌സിക്കോയിലെ ലോസ്‌ ഗാബോസില്‍ നടന്ന ജി-20 സമ്മേളനത്തില്‍ പങ്കെടുത്ത ഇന്ത്യന്‍ വിദേശകാര്യ സഹമന്ത്രി ഇ. അഹ്‌മദ്‌, അമേരിക്കന്‍ സ്റ്റേറ്റ്‌ സെക്രട്ടറി ഹിലരി ക്ലിന്റണ്‍, ടര്‍ക്കി വിദേശകാര്യ മന്ത്രി പ്രൊഫ. ഡോ. അഹ്‌മദ്‌ ഡുവാട്ടോഗ്ലുവിനുമൊപ്പം.

Session 1: “Global Governance: breaking the deadlocks in the multilateral system”
Specific issues that may be addressed:
•    Providing leadership for effectively and coherently addressing cross-cutting global challenges (social, economic and environmental dimensions).
•    The need for the multilateral system to deliver and to deliver more effectively and in a coordinated manner.
    The G20 leaders have so far focussed on win–win strategies for the international community. While there is no doubt that the key issues facing the G20 Summit’s agenda remain grappling with continuing global financial and eurozone crises, IMF quota and voting reforms, financial-sector reforms, commodity and derivatives markets, and disaster-recovery management; the issues relating to reform of global governance institutions including United Nations and Doha Development Agenda have also seized the attention of the world community. For the eventual success of the G20 agenda in terms of delivering concrete outcomes, we feel that it must be uninterrupted, implementable by all concerned and focused.

    The G20 group has rightly endeavoured to work with and complement the existing efforts of various international organizations. The G20 has been effective in formulating policies and working with the international community to stabilize financial markets, coordinate regulatory reform and launch a global economic stimulus. However, instead of expanding the agenda into several diverse areas, the G20 should provide focused impetus for the recovery of global economy by working with each other, the rest of the countries and the relevant international organizations like IMF and World Bank.

    India feels that we should not allow the global economic slowdown to become a trigger for building walls around ourselves through recourse to protectionism or erecting barriers to movement of people, services and capital, and knowledge and information. The coordination of macro economic policies of major economies in an effective manner and the speedy and efficient reform of governance systems of international financial institutions and standards setting bodies are the needs of the hour. The efficacy and legitimacy of these bodies can be restored only their voice and representation is reformed to reflect the changing economic weights in the global economy.

    The excessive volatility of Commodity prices and its consequent impact on food security as well as on sustainable development in developing countries is also a matter of deep concern. The G20 Leaders have already recognised the need to ensure the effective reform of financial markets and the necessity of making the commodity markets transparent and regulated.

    There seems to be a general feeling that while the G20 could push the trade negotiations in Geneva, an overlap between the WTO and G20 processes should be avoided and at the same time, synergies between the two processes should be explored. The merits in holding a G20 Trade Ministerial only as long as it is clearly focussed on what could or could not be done could also be explored to help early, comprehensive, balanced and satisfactory conclusion of the Doha Development Round.

Session 2: “Addressing current global challenges in an effective manner”

Specific issues that may be addressed:
•    Shared responsibility and other common principles to address global challenges in an interdependent system.
•    Strengthening the rule of law, institutions and standards within a complex and evolving international architecture, including the global fight against corruption and bribery.

    India has no doubt that the effectiveness of the G20 will only be enhanced if it takes along the non-members. The decisions and policies of the G20 can have global impact if they are transparent, inclusive in nature as well as consultative with and involving the rest of the world. There is no doubt that it is the global interdependencies that bind the G20 together and with the international community. It has been the unifying power of common threats that has always provided the glue to the world community to come together to meet them. However, the times have changed and it is now the global financial challenges or perhaps the opportunities arising out of them that bring us together at this premier forum of G20.

    It is being said that in a large number of developing countries, multilateral institutions and bilateral agencies could play an important role by building capacity and investing in infrastructure due to lack of inherent abilities of these countries to make initial investments. For developing countries, infrastructure investments could be engines of growth for transforming their economies leading to the benefits including job creation, economic growth, expanding their markets, fuel domestic demand and, consequently lead to the much needed, rebalancing of demand in the global economy.

    A World Bank Policy Paper has deduced that scaling up infrastructure investment in developing countries would generate much needed manufacturing jobs in advanced countries, raise their exports, reduce excess capacity, and support overall growth. To facilitate this win-win outcome we need to raise our level of ambition regarding scaling up the resources of multilateral development banks as we have done in the case of the International Monetary Fund.  With this, a return to pre-crisis growth levels in advanced economies and new strong nodes of growth in developing countries could become a new reality. However, unmindful implementation of a one track strategy could lead to an unbalanced, unsustainable and sub-optimal growth path.

    India continues to maintain a policy of zero tolerance against corruption. India has adhered to its international commitments and has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). India's ratification finds a mention in the Cannes communiqué. India has a strong, effective and functional framework in place to tackle corruption, including active civil society mechanisms. These include the institutions of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) and Lok Ayuktas in many states, a free press and robust democratic institutions right down to the grassroots. India is an active participant in several other multilateral meetings and forums dealing with this subject.
Session 3: “Building common understandings on green growth, and sustainable development”
Specific issues that may be addressed:
•    Green development as a source for growth: paving the way for green growth and green investment
•    Public-private partnerships for green development
•    Water and sanitization and sustainable urbanization
•    UNFCCC: Climate Change Architecture
•    Rio + 20 perspectives
    India is committed to develop green growth policies - such policies which co-exist with structural reforms aimed to enhance economic growth and its measures to uplift large number of peoples from below poverty line. It has evolved its own national action plan to ensure this.

    We commit ourselves and look forward to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO+20) for a renewed political commitment to Sustainable Development based on the Rio Principles, in particular equity and common but differentiated responsibilities, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. We welcome the hosting of the Conference by Brazil on June 20-22, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro close on the heels of the next G20 Summit and pledge to extend all support to make it a success.

    India reaffirms that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Any outcome from Rio+20 should allow flexibility and policy space for national authorities to make their own choices out of a broad menu of options and define their paths towards sustainable development based on the country’s stage of development, availability of credible options, national circumstances and priorities. Sustainable development challenges exist in both developed and developing countries, though their impact differs.

    Poverty eradication remains the central challenge of the global development agenda. In this context, approaching Sustainable Development through a balanced integration of economic, social and environmental pillars is necessary.

    Being committed to human well-being and progress, we seek strong international cooperation on means of implementation including financing and transfer of affordable cutting edge green technology to enable developing countries make credible efforts and contribute significantly towards sustainable development consistent with the objective of eradicating poverty.

    We reiterate that the concept of Green Economy is subsumed in the larger framework of Sustainable Development and poverty eradication. We must bear in mind that the Green Economy is a means to achieve Sustainable Development and not an end in itself. The international effort in this regard should supplement and not hinder efforts to meet the objectives of socio-economic development and poverty eradication in developing countries.

    In the above context, pursuing the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) mandate and early conclusion of negotiations with fresh and credible approaches assumes significant importance. The concerns of the developing world in general and that of Least Developed Countries in particular shall be addressed in right earnestness.

    On Climate Change, we welcome the outcome of the Durban Climate Change Conference held in Durban, South Africa in December 2011, in particular, the decision on the 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. We stress, however, that the developed countries which are parties to the Kyoto Protocol must now show a greater level of ambition, consistent with their obligations under the Convention and we hope that higher mitigation targets will be reflected in the KP-2 framework.

    We also welcome the launch of a process under the Durban Platform and hope that the new initiative will enhance the implementation of the Convention, respect its principles and provisions and help the international community meet the global challenge of Climate Change effectively.

    Noting that developing countries are undertaking serious voluntary mitigation actions at substantial cost to their economies, we call on the developed countries to take the lead in addressing Climate Change and urgently make available new, additional and predictable financial and technological support to developing countries to enable them to effectively deal with the developmental challenges of climate change. 

Session 4 - “Building Global Governance responses for human development”

Specific issues that may be addressed:
•    Sustainable Development and Eradication of poverty: follow up of MDGs and post 2015 MDGs
•    Food security, agricultural sustainability and nutrition
•    Addressing the needs of youth and women
•    Regional and national approaches on risk management and disaster relief (fast reaction, humanitarian and food reserves)

Draft Intervention

    India welcomes the progress made thus far on the Millennium Development Goals but remains acutely aware of the unfinished task ahead. We call for a redoubling of our efforts to push for maximum results on the attainment of the MDGs by 2015. We reaffirm that the attainment of the MDGs, particularly poverty reduction, is fundamental to ensuring inclusive and equitable global growth. In this context, we stress the necessity of adequate and enhanced financing by developed countries, which will help unlock new sources of growth and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development. India support efforts to improve capacities and facilitate the mobilization of resources for infrastructure projects initiated by public and private sectors.

    India welcomes the recommendations of the G20 Agricultural Ministerial Action Plan launched in June 2011 in Paris and it is a matter of great satisfaction that follow up action has already commenced in G20 countries. India is of the view that promoting Agricultural production and productivity are central to addressing the problem of excessive food price volatility. Without an increase in agricultural productivity it will not be possible to contain high food prices and meet the growing demand for food crops in order to give all countries stable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for everyone. Long term food security is a growing area of concern to the developing world. We need more cooperation in agricultural technologies, in water conservation, in land usage and productivity and stability in commodity prices.

    India strongly acknowledges that human resource is a prime contributor to sustained development and poverty alleviation. In this regard, several efforts of creating and utilizing the domestic pool of skilled labour have been initiated by the Indian government focusing mainly on Youth and Women. In these times of economic slowdown leading to increasing unemployment, skills development through re-training for alternative employment must be considered. The Multi-Year Action Plan on Development and recommendations from the G20 Employment Task Force must also be consistently enforced.

    In this context, India is also assisting the developing countries under its “ Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme”. This  Programme serves as part of development assistance by India under South-South Cooperation Framework. This programme focuses on capacity building, skills development, and transfer of technology and sharing of experience as a part of Human Resource Development in the developing countries.

    Natural disasters do not recognise political boundaries. The environmental impact of disasters created by humans also has trans-national reach. We, as a member of shrinking globe, need closer cooperation for human resource development, capacity building, training, research, documentation and policy advocacy in the field of disaster management.

Final Session and Wrap-up

•    Final remarks by participants, including proposals to address other topics

Draft Final Statement

    In India, we wish to accelerate the pace of India's transformation in partnership with the international community. A fast growing India can expand the boundaries of the global economy.

    India believes that the development agenda must be brought firmly back to the centre stage of the United Nations` priorities. We need a much more determined effort to ensure balanced, inclusive and sustainable development for the benefit of vast sections of humanity. Each of us can contribute to this task, but we can achieve far more if we act in partnership.