Italy lauds India's G20 presidency for placing Africa on global agenda

Six months after India passed the G20 baton to Brazil, the ambassadors of Italy and Indonesia have lauded New Delhi's presidency of the bloc for bringing Africa and the Global South at the centre of international agenda.

"The success of India's G20 presidency is precisely the capacity to preserve the role of G20 because that was at risk," Italy's Ambassador to India Vincenzo de Luca said.

He was speaking at a panel discussion held to release a book, titled 'India's G20 Legacy: Shaping a New World Order.' "After G20 India, Global South and Africa have been in the centre of the stage," said the Italian envoy at the event last evening.

On the Ukraine-Russia standoff, the Italian envoy lauded not only India's G20 presidency, but also Indonesia's presidency" of the grouping for finding a consensus formulation on the contentious issue.

Indonesia's Ambassador to India Ina H Krisnamurthy lavished praise on New Delhi's G20 presidency for promoting inclusivity in the grouping.

Induction of the 55-nation African Union as a permanent member of the G20 and managing to produce a leaders' declaration overcoming deep divisions over the Ukraine conflict were seen as major milestones of India's year-long presidency of the grouping of the world's 20 big economies in 2023.

In her remarks, Krisnamurthy lauded India for taking the lead to include the African Union as a full member of the G20 and increasing the inclusivity of the bloc.

The envoy also praised India for undertaking the initiative to host two editions of the "Voice of the Global South Summit" which provided a platform for projecting interests and aspirations of the Global South in the G20 agenda.

"India's G20 Presidency has left a historical footprint. You don't know how happy we were when the G20 New Delhi Declaration was adopted. It was not out of relief, but pride," she said.

Edited by Manish Chand, the book comprises articles by diplomats and strategic affairs experts highlighting the legacy of India's G20 presidency.

The foreword to the book has been written by Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India's then G20 Chief Coordinator.

The contributors to the book included South Africa's Foreign Minister GNM Pandor, India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, Italian ambassador Luca and Brazil's Ambassador to Kenneth Felix Haczynski da Nobrega.

Senior diplomats, including Muktesh Pradeshi and Lakshmi Puri, singled out India's G20 presidency for making the grouping people-centric.

"No other country has ever done a diplomatic endeavour at a pan-country level. Diplomacy became a part of our everyday lexicon. Even taxi wallahs, shopkeepers, barbers -- everybody became part of a great national endeavour," said Muktesh Pardeshi, currently a secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Pardeshi supervised hosting of the New Delhi summit of G20.

"There was never seen before Jan Bhagidari- participation of women actors from all, from the grassroots to top policy levels in this whole process. So it was not only the people's G20, but this was also the women's G20," said Lakshmi Puri, Former Assistant Secretary General, UN.

The book launch and two panel discussions on India's G20 Legacy and Brazil's G20 presidency were organised by Jindal School of International Affairs, India Writes Network and Centre for Global India Insights.