For India, G20 presidency an opportunity to drive focus on food and energy security

In his latest 'Mann ki Baat', PM Modi had said that assuming the G20 presidency was a huge opportunity for India and that the country must utilise it by focusing on global good and world welfare.

New Delhi, Dec 03: Shouldering the huge responsibility of G20 presidency, India is on an endeavor to contribute on pressing issues of global importance. Guided by this goal, the issues of food and energy securities will be among the major objectives for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India formally assumed the Presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20).

Guided by PM Modi's vision, the foreign policy of India has been evolving to undertake leadership roles on the global stage, a statement from his office said. In that direction, the country assumed G20 Presidency on Thursday, which allows India to contribute to the global agenda on pressing issues of international importance.

The Prime Minister in his last month's 'Mann ki Baat' said that assuming the G20 presidency was a huge opportunity for India and that the country must utilise it by focusing on global good. "Friends, the Presidency of G20 has arrived as a big opportunity for us. We have to make full use of this opportunity and focus on global good and world welfare," he said.

The Prime Minister has also making strong pitch for protecting India's energy security. "India is taking charge of the G20 at a time when the world is simultaneously grappling with geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown, rising food and energy prices, and the long-term ill-effects of the pandemic," he said.

"As we have heard multiple times that the global economic environment is subject to multiple headwinds. We are not dealing with known unknowns, we are dealing with unknown unknowns," ANI quoted Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran as saying at ICRIER's 14th Annual International G20 Conference on India's G20 Presidency.

"Under these circumstances, the objective of the Indian Presidency will be to focus on key issues of macroeconomic vulnerabilities in the near term, which deal with food and energy insecurities which have arisen partly because of longstanding underinvestment in energy infrastructure but also because of near-term geopolitical developments," he added.

India plans to hold 200 meetings in 50 cities
The Narendra Modi-led BJP government is planning to have the G20 meetings in less explored parts but very exotic locations of India, sources informed news agency ANI. India assumed the presidency of the Group of 20 (G-20), the alliance of 19 major economies and the European Union on December 1.

The PM's vision is to connect all districts and blocks with G-20 so that the message will reach to masses through Jan Bhagidari initiatives, which aims to connect people in governance at the local level.