Substantial progress on Preamble, gender equality: G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant

Our talks are progressing well. Our priorities and envisaged outcomes have been appreciated by developing countries and developed ones alike: Kant

The four-day 3rd G20 Sherpa Meeting ended at Hampi on Sunday with the chief negotiators starting to co-draft the Leaders’ declaration for the New Delhi summit in September. India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant explains the progress and challenges that lie ahead for the summit, in an in-person interview with Asit Ranjan Mishra at Hampi.

How did the Sherpa talks go at Hampi? In which areas was progress made compared to the first draft joint declaration?

Our talks are progressing well. Our priorities and envisaged outcomes have been appreciated by developing countries and developed ones alike. G20 countries engaged constructively and were appreciative of India’s ambition in driving transformative action. We have brought to the fore issues of the Global South, making a more inclusive world. Our proposal to invite the African Union has been well-supported, with numerous countries expressing their support. During our discussions at Hampi, we were able to go through the entire draft declaration, taking on board every country’s views, including invitee countries, as well as international organisations (IOs). We were able to make substantial progress on the preamble and the gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls sections. For instance, many countries were appreciative of the fact that the text on the gender equality section has never been as ambitious as the text put forward by India.

How soon will the second draft be circulated to the Sherpas?

All G20 countries, invitees, and IOs have presented their views on the first draft of the declaration. Some requested to send written inputs as well. As we receive inputs, we plan on circulating the second draft before the end of this month to continue our discussions.

On the proposed inclusion of the African Union as a member, do you expect capacity constraints at the African end and does it need initial hand holding?

I do not foresee any capacity constraints on that end. For instance, the African Union has been crucial in driving economic integration in Africa, through initiatives such as Agenda 2063 and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), gaining this mandate through the AU Charter.  Furthermore, the AU Charter has also established a Pan-African Parliament.

While efforts are towards a joint declaration at the leaders’ level, will you be disappointed if it ends up being a chair’s summary?

We are confident that the G20 will come together to address the major global challenges and take collective action. Under PM Modi’s strong leadership, the G20 will achieve strong consensual outcomes.

Since there are other geopolitical issues apart from the Ukraine war, is there effort towards not naming any country in the proposed declaration?

At the moment, we are focused on building consensus on key developmental issues such as accelerating progress on SDGs (sustainable development goals), green development, technological transformation, and gender equality, among others. Geopolitical issues will be taken up in due course.
 

On data for development, what is being proposed?

High-Level Principles (HLPs) on harnessing Data for Development (D4D) to accelerate progress on SDGs are part of the G20 2023 Action Plan to accelerate progress on SDGs. Strengthening data-informed approaches to sustainable development, enhancing high-quality data and sustainable data infrastructure, bridging the digital divides, including gender digital divide and growing data divide, focus on capacity building, increasing financing and technology assistance, promoting inclusive use of data for development and enhancing collaboration and partnerships are the key ideas being proposed through the D4D initiative.