Prime Minister Narendra Modi with U.S. President Joe Biden and President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday (November 18, 2024).
| Photo Credit: PTI

The countries of the Global South are most adversely impacted by the food, fuel, and fertiliser crisis caused by global conflicts, and the G-20 must give primacy to their concerns and priorities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday (November 18, 2024).

In an address on the first day of the G-20 summit, Mr. Modi complimented the Brazilian presidency of the grouping for taking forward the “people-centric decisions” taken at the bloc’s summit in New Delhi last year.

The Indian G-20 presidency’s call for “One Earth, One Family, One Future” continued to resonate at the Rio conversations, he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden, Mr. Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are among the leaders attending the two-day summit at Rio de Janeiro’s Modern Art Museum.

“I would like to say that countries of the Global South are most adversely impacted by the food, fuel, and fertiliser crisis caused by global conflicts,” he said.

“So our discussions can only be successful when we keep in mind the challenges and priorities of the Global South,” he added.

The Prime Minister made the remarks at the G-20 session on ‘Social Inclusion and the Fight Against Hunger and Poverty’.

The opening day’s highlight was the launch of a global alliance to combat poverty and hunger that has been supported by at least 80 nations.

In a post on X, Mr. Modi called the initiative “commendable” saying it marks a significant stride towards ensuring food security and uplifting vulnerable communities worldwide. “India assures full support to this effort.” In his remarks at the session, the Prime Minister said India believes in the approaches of “Back to Basics” and “March to Future” and that is why it is emphasising organic farming, popularising millets, and encouraging climate-resilient crop varieties.

Mr. Modi also called for reform of the institutions of global governance.

“And just as we amplified the voice of the Global South by granting permanent membership of the G-20 to the African Union during the New Delhi summit, we will reform institutions of global governance,” he said.

Mr. Modi said the people-centric decisions taken at the G-20 Summit in New Delhi have been “taken forward during Brazil’s presidency”.

“It is a matter of great satisfaction that we prioritised SDG [sustainable development goals]. We focused on inclusive development, women-led development, and youth power,” he said.

“And gave wings to the hopes and aspirations of the Global South. It is clear that One Earth, One Family, One Future is as relevant at this summit as it was last year,” he added.

The theme of India’s G-20 presidency was drawn from the ancient Sanskrit text of Maha Upanishad.

Speaking about India’s initiatives to deal with hunger and poverty, Mr. Modi said India had pulled 250 million people out of poverty in the last 10 years and was distributing free food grains to 800 million people in the country.

The Prime Minister also highlighted the steps taken by India to strengthen food security in Africa and elsewhere.

“Over 800 million people are being given food grains free of cost; 550 million people are benefiting from the world’s biggest health insurance scheme,” he said.

“Now, 60 million senior citizens, over the age of 70, will also be able to benefit from free health insurance,” he said.

“Maintaining our focus on women-led development and social inclusion, over 300 million women microentrepreneurs have been linked to banks and given access to credit,” Mr. Modi added.

The Prime Minister also spoke about India’s crop insurance scheme.

“Under the world’s largest crop insurance scheme, over 40 million farmers have received benefits worth 20 billion U.S. dollars,” he said.

“Under the farmers’ scheme, assistance worth over 40 billion dollars has been given to 110 million farmers. Institutional credit worth 300 billion dollars is being given to farmers,” he said.

Mr. Modi said India is not only ensuring food security but also focusing on nutrition. He said New Delhi is also contributing to global food security by sending food items to various countries.

“The main reason for our success is our approach: back to basics and march to the future,” he said.

“We have focused not only on natural farming and organic farming but also on new technologies. We have focused on sustainable agriculture, protection of the environment, nutrition, and food security by promoting Sri Anna or millets,” he said.

The Prime Minister said India has developed over 2,000 climate-resilient crop varieties and has started the ‘Digital Agriculture Mission’.

“India’s digital public infrastructure enabled social and financial inclusion. With the aspirational districts and blocks project, we created a new model for inclusive development that strengthens the weakest link,” he said.

Mr. Modi began his visit to Brazil after concluding a two-day trip to Nigeria.

With Brazil preparing to host the Group of 20 summit, it appears unlikely the leading rich and developing nations will sign on to a meaningful declaration regarding geopolitics: The meeting on Monday (November 18, 2024) and Tuesday (November 19, 2024) in Rio de Janeiro is overshadowed by two major wars and Donald Trump’s recent election victory.

Heightened global tensions and uncertainty about an incoming Mr. Trump administration have tempered any expectations for a strongly worded statement addressing the conflicts in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine.

Experts instead anticipate a final document focused on social issues like the eradication of hunger – one of Brazil’s priorities – even if it aims to include at least a mention of the ongoing wars.

“Brazilian diplomacy has been strongly engaged in this task, but to expect a substantively strong and consensual declaration in a year like 2024 with two serious international conflicts is to set the bar very high,” said Cristiane Lucena Carneiro, an international relations professor at the University of Sao Paulo.

After Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvathwarted far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro’s re-election bid in 2022, there was some excitement in the international community at the prospect of the leftist leader and savvy diplomat – who Barack Obama once called “the most popular politician on Earth” – hosting the G20.

Mr. Bolsonaro had little personal interest in international summits, let foreign policy be guided by ideology and clashed with several leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron. Mr. Lula took office and often quoted a catchphrase: “Brazil is back.”

Brazil under Mr. Lula has reverted to its decades-old principle of non-alignment to carve out a policy that best safeguards its interests in an increasingly multipolar world. That involves talking to all parties, which experts say gave Brazil a privileged position to host a summit such as the G20.

But his administration’s foreign policy has at times raised eyebrows. A Brazil-China peace plan for Russia and Ukraine doesn’t call for Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine and has been slammed by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And Mr. Lula sparked a diplomatic incident with Israel after comparing its actions in Gaza to the Holocaust.

Donald Trump’s win in the U.S. presidential election earlier this month and the imminent return of an America First doctrine may also hamper the diplomatic spirit needed for broad agreement on divisive issues.

“If we have one certainty, it is regarding Donald Trump’s scepticism towards multilateralism,” Ms. Carneiro said.

Two officials from Brazil and one from another G20 nation say Argentine negotiators are standing in the way of a joint declaration. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Two of them said Argentina’s negotiators have raised several objections to the draft. They most vehemently oppose a clause calling for a global tax on the super-rich – which they had previously accepted, in July – and another promoting gender equality.

Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio, Brazil’s key negotiator at G20, told journalists on Nov. 8 that the leaders’ final declaration should address the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, but that diplomats were still discussing how to reach universally acceptable language.

“The main message, naturally, is that we need to achieve peace not only regarding these conflicts but all conflicts,” he said in the capital Brasilia, adding that Mr. Lula’s launch of a global alliance against hunger and poverty on Monday (November 18, 2024) is just as important as the final statement.

“The leaders’ declaration will be the crowning achievement. But, at the same time, as instructed by the president himself, we have a G20 focused on concrete actions, such as the launch of a Global Alliance Against Hunger, with a package of very concrete social programs and innovative mechanisms to meet the resources needed for implementing them.”

Mr. Lula, a former trade unionist who hails from a humble background, made the fight against hunger a priority during his first two terms as president (2003-2010) both at home and abroad. The number of undernourished Brazilians fell by more than 80% in 10 years, according to a 2014 U.N. report.

Mr. Lula’s hunger alliance is the only one of Brazil’s primary aims for a G20 declaration that will be obtained, according to Thomas Traumann, a former government minister and a political consultant based in Rio.

“Brazil wanted a global deal to fight poverty, a project to finance green transition and some consensus over a global tax for the super-rich. Only the first one has survived,” Mr. Traumann said.

President Joe Biden will attend the summit after a stop in Lima for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and then travel on to Manaus, a city in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. It will be the first time a sitting American president sets foot in the Amazon, and the trip’s objective is to highlight “commitment to environmental protection and respect for local cultures,” according to a Nov. 12 statement from the U.S. Embassy in Brazil.

White House officials insist that Mr. Biden’s visits to APEC and the G20 will be substantive, with talks on climate issues, global infrastructure, counternarcotic efforts and one-on-one meetings with global leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Those officials say Mr. Biden also will use the summits to press allies to keep up support for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia’s invasion and not lose sight of finding an end to the wars in Lebanon and Gaza.

Any commitments Mr. Biden makes may be overturned by the next White House administration, according to Danielle Ayres, an international relations professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

“It would mean Mr. Trump would have to be proactive and say the U.S. is not going to do something to which it signed up for internationally,” Ms. Ayres said. “That has a cost. It generates insecurity, a bad perception on behalf of the international community towards Mr. Trump.”

Mr. Trump’s election may also cause other countries to look toward China as a more reliable partner. Xi Jinping’s inauguration of the Chancay mega port in Peru on Thursday was perhaps the clearest sign of Latin America’s reorientation.

A notable absentee at the G20 will be Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, against whom the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant that obliges member states to arrest him, and Russia’s delegation will be led by Sergey Lavrov. Israel is not a G20 member.

“The latest G20 meetings were somewhat depleted and became just another moment for bilateral meetings of heads of government. As Mr. Putin is out, Mr. Lula managed Ukraine not to be a topic, just as much as Israel. But Mr. Trump’s election takes from Mr. Lula the chance of being the star on the stage,” Mr. Traumann said.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Brazil to attend the annual G20 summit and to Nigeria and Guyana as part of a three-nation visit beginning November 16, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.

PM Modi’s first destination will be Nigeria and it will be the first visit to the resource-rich African country by an Indian prime minister in 17 years.

From Nigeria, PM Modi will travel to the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro on a two-day trip beginning November 18 to participate in the G20 summit. India is part of the G20 troika along with Brazil and South Africa.

The prime minister will put forward India’s positions on various issues of global importance and build on the outcomes from the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration and Voice of the Global South Summits, the MEA said.

On the sidelines of the summit, PM Modi is expected to meet several leaders, it said.

Under its G20 presidency that ended on November 30 last year, India focused on a variety of issues like inclusive growth, digital innovation, climate financing and equitable global health access with an aim largely to benefit the Global South or the developing countries.

PM Modi will visit Nigeria from November 16 to 17 at the invitation of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the MEA said.

“During the visit, the prime minister will hold talks to review the strategic partnership between India and Nigeria and discuss further avenues to enhance the bilateral relationship,” it said.

He is also scheduled to address a gathering of the Indian community in Nigeria.

“India and Nigeria have been strategic partners since 2007 with growing economic, energy and defence collaboration. More than 200 Indian companies have invested over USD 27 billion in important sectors in Nigeria,” the MEA said.

It said India and Nigeria also share a strong development cooperation partnership.

The prime minister’s final destination will be Guyana. He will visit the island nation from November 19 to 21 at the invitation of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, according to the MEA.

“This visit to Guyana will be the first by an Indian prime minister since 1968,” it said.

In 2023, President Ali visited India as the chief guest at the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Indore and he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.

“During the visit, the prime minister will hold discussions with President Ali, meet other senior leaders of Guyana, address the Parliament of Guyana and address a gathering of the Indian diaspora,” the MEA said.

“In Georgetown, Guyana, the prime minister will also participate in the second CARICOM-India Summit and hold meetings with leaders of CARICOM member countries to further enhance India’s long-standing friendship with the region,” it said.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an intergovernmental organisation of 15 member states in the Caribbean region having the primary objective to promote economic integration and cooperation among the members. 
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)