The day India took over the presidency of the G20 from Indonesia, a question mark was raised on India’s ability to lead at a time when the world was again divided into two blocks due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But India indeed emerged as the leader of the global south and showcased it’s diplomacy by achieving 100 percent consensus of all nations on the Delhi declaration.
Despite its fruitful outcomes, India did highlight the fact that the global progress towards achieving the SDGs by 2030 is off track, with only 12% of targets on track. Addressing this issue India brought up the Global Biofuel Alliance that aims to promote the adoption of biofuels and position biofuels as a key component of energy transition. India itself is on pace for achieving 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025. The farmers are already reaping the benefits, sugarcane farmers of Maharashtra are earning 15% more per quintal of sugarcane thanks to ethanol blending program. With 19 countries and 12 organisations agreeing to join, GBA highlights India’s leadership in addressing climate crisis. Another masterstroke of India’s presidency was the introduction of India Middle East Europe economic corridor, which would be a counter to China’s Belt and Road initiative. IMEC will provide Indian farmers with direct access to the lucrative markets in Middle east North Africa region (MENA). At present it takes 2 weeks to ship goods from India to Middle East, IMEC will reduce the transit time by 50%. It is expected to increase India’s agricultural output by up to 20% by 2030, The IMEC has also helped to attract investment in India’s agricultural sector. For example, the UAE-based Lulu Group has invested over US$500 million in India’s food processing industry. The summit also saw the launch of the Global Agriculture Investment Corporation (GAIC), which will invest in agricultural projects in developing countries. This will help to attract more investment to Indian agriculture. With Indian agriculture expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% between 2022 and 2032, the rising population and uncertain climatic patterns pose a challenge and to address it the summit witnessed the launch of Global Agriculture Innovation Network (GAIN) which aims to connect farmers, researchers, and businesses, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and promoting innovation in the agriculture sector. Also, with initiatives like Global Agriculture Market Information System (AMIS) (which is a real-time data platform providing farmers and traders with transparent market information to enhance decision-making) India has taken an initiative to address the challenges in Indian agriculture.
It is rightfully said that agriculture is the backbone of any civilisation but with a looming climate crisis and El Nino condition forming up Indian agriculture needs private investments, The establishment of the Global Agriculture Investment Corporation (GAIC) during the summit aims to attract more investment to Indian agriculture by investing in viable agricultural projects. The G20 summit indeed addressed major issues surrounding Indian agriculture and India did emerge as a leader in this multilateral word.
