In his interview to Network 18’s Money Control, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has detailed how the rich learnings of his government’s experiences reaping the dividends of inclusive governance at home can offer solutions for the world.
Indeed, India’s presidency of the G20 coincides with the nation emerging as a global bright spot. While this is a fortuitous coming together of dates, India’s global surge isn’t accidental.
The policies pursued by the NDA under the stewardship of Prime Minister Modi have been shaped by the guiding philosophy of integral humanism and the concept of Antyodaya (welfare of the poorest). Echoing Deendayal Upadhaya, one of the BJP’s founders, the PM has always maintained that the “success of economic planning and economic progress will not be judged by those who are at top of the ladder but through the people who are at the lowest rung”.
Using digital infrastructure, the NDA has strived to reach the last citizen. Its inclusive initiatives have by and large democratised access to resources and opportunities to address the yawning inequity between the haves and the have-nots. Statistics testify to this. In a little over a decade more than 400 million Indians have been lifted out of poverty through empowering welfarism. Importantly, the Prime Minister never fails to point out that the NDA model is far removed from the economically ruinous dependency creating the ‘revadi’ model of state patronage. The ‘labarthis’ (an elegant colloquial name to dignify beneficiaries) who are being drawn into the arc of the NDA’s inclusive welfarism have created a virtuous up-cycle of demand-led growth.
But sadly, at the same time, billions around the world (mostly in the Global South) have slipped into indigence. Their problems have exacerbated particularly because the global elites, who are at the core of multilateral institutions like the G20, have failed them. The demise of the post-Cold War US-helmed unipolar world order has meant increased geo-strategic and geo-economic disruption as more powers flex their muscles in the race for dominance. Today, the most steadfast votaries of globalisation have torn up the rulebook taking expedient steps to score points over each other in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
Those left behind or abandoned by the global elites are crying out for a third way. It is into this yearning for global leadership that Modi sees a massive role for India. A role which he is keen to personally steer over two days beginning September 9.
In the interview, the Prime Minister summed it up thus, “It is well known that we have followed the approach of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas in our country over the last 9 years…This is our guiding principle in global relations as well. Over the last many years, the world had been keenly watching India’s growth across many sectors… When we laid out our agenda for the G20, it was welcomed universally, because everyone knew that we would bring our proactive and positive approach to help find solutions for global issues. When global leaders meet me, they are filled with a sense of optimism about India… They are also convinced that India has a lot to offer and must play a larger role in shaping the global future.”
India’s emergence as a putative fulcrum of global governance has also made it more difficult for Modi’s detractors, who’ve criticised the Prime Minister for using the G20 Summit to boost his own image.
While there is no doubting the political dividend when the BJP projects Modi’s diplomatic accomplishments in election season, the fact is that taking “G20 to the masses” (200 meetings across 60 cities in all states) is very much in keeping with the aims of deepening the roots of cooperative federalism.
But there also may well be another compelling reason why Modi is personally pushing the broad basing of G20 events under India’s presidency.
By taking diplomacy beyond the starchy precincts of Vigyan Bhawan, the Prime Minister has signalled that he is committed to bringing the masses — in India and abroad — within the fold of global governance decision-making.
For Modi, the “people’s G20 presidency” is his way of signalling that he has a problem with those who think Dilli is Hindustan.
“As I marvelled at the diversity of our vast nation,” said Modi to Network 18, “there was one common thing that I observed across the country. People of every region and every section of society had a ‘can do’ spirit. They took on challenges with great resourcefulness and skill. They had great self-belief even amidst adversity. All they needed was a platform that empowered them. Historically, in the circles of power, there was a certain reluctance to think beyond Delhi, particularly Vigyan Bhavan, for hosting national and international meets.”
Modi’s new approach will appeal beyond India’s borders to the malcontents of globalisation — those beyond its pale and those disillusioned by its unkept promises.
Ever since India took over the mantle of the G20 presidency, Modi has refused to be drawn into the clash over Ukraine and by implication the larger tussle for dominating the globe between the US-led Western order and the Russo-Sino axis. Had Modi given in to the pressure to take sides India would have been co-opted by this or that camp and lost credibility. Instead, Modi has championed the need for reforming and reviving global institutions so that they can become more responsive to the needs of the global subaltern.
“Institutions that cannot reform with the times, cannot anticipate the future or prepare for it… they cannot create any real impact and end up as irrelevant debating clubs. When it’s seen that institutions cannot act against those who violate the global rules-based order or worse, get hijacked by such entities, they risk losing credibility. There is a need for credible multilateralism powered by institutions that embrace reform and treat various stakeholders with consistency, equality and dignity.”
As Modi observes in the interview, “A reformed multilateralism also needs to focus on going beyond the institutional sphere to tap into the power of individuals, societies, cultures and civilisations. This can only be done by democratising international relations and by not making government-to-government relations the only medium of contact… The interconnected nature of our world today can become a strength for peace and progress if we focus on a people-centric policy.”
Indeed, it is largely due to New Delhi’s persistent call for urgent reform that India is being viewed increasingly by subalterns around the world as most capable of pursuing a humanising global governance aimed at democratising opportunity.
Perhaps in the end analysis, India’s appeal to global constituencies will be the greatest measure of the success of Bharat’s legacy at the helm of the G20.
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