India wants and must lead by example in tackling climate problems and energy resources, said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Saturday, giving foreshadow of the country’s agenda at the G-20 summit. Besides, he underscored that the theme of the Italian presidency at the G-20 is reflected in the Indian concept of ?Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam? (the world is one family).
The Italian presidency of the summit focused its attention on three pillars, ?Population, Planet and Prosperity?. On India’s role in tackling climate issues, Shringla said that India today is in the frontline among the countries that intend to take action to save the planet.
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India will host the G-20 Summit in 2023.
“G-20 heads of state meet in Rome for the 16th Summit of world leaders under the Italian presidency. India, like Italy, is one of the founding members of the G20. Italy and India are both very ancient nations with a centuries-old history, marked by special ties,” he said.
Elaborating on ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, Shringla said the ancient phrase can be liberally translated to “all peoples of the planet belong to the same family and aspire to live in harmony”.
India, like Italy, is convinced that shared problems require shared solutions, he said.
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“Climate change represents one of the greatest challenges of our time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian people have adopted a perspective for climate interventions that draws inspiration from ancient Indian philosophy, which invites us to establish a relationship of harmony with all of creation. Thanks to an exhaustive policy and a program of interventions based on this vision, India today is in the frontline among the countries that intend to take action to save the planet,” Shringla said.
Adding that massive investments have been made to increase India’s renewable energy resources, he said, “Today, India can be said to be well underway in the transition phase”.
“It is well known that India has the lowest per capita CO2 emissions among the G20 countries, whose impact is estimated at 1.9 tonnes per capita. But this has not dissuaded India not only from entering into specific commitments to achieve the Paris objectives, but even to surpass them,” he said.
“India recognises the efforts made by the Italian presidency, which aim to resolve the interconnected issues of development and climate protection. This meeting of G20 leaders will take place a few days before COP26, where climate change will be addressed. It will be necessary to reaffirm the commitments of the UNFCCC (the UN Framework Convention) for the transfer of technologies and for financing aimed at intervening on climate,? he said.
Deliberating on the bilateral relations between the two countries, Shringla wrote, ?The visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first visit to Italy in over a decade. The spirit of collaboration between India and Italy within the G20 has deep roots. Two modern democracies, India and Italy firmly support the rule of law and multilateralism, and share increasingly convergent positions for the solution of common problems at a global level. Political understanding is accompanied by multifaceted and dynamic economic relations established between the two countries, with close commercial ties and complementary strengths in areas ranging from infrastructure to the agri-food industry, up to renewable energy.?
Recognising the need to tap the great potential of our relations in the best possible way, India and Italy signed the 2020-2025 Action Plan for the strengthening of their partnership at the virtual summit held in November 2020 when the strategic objectives in the political, economic, scientific and technological as well as cultural spheres to be achieved in the next five years were set.
“All this, thanks also to the peaceful resolution of the crisis of the Italian marines of the Enrica Lexie, has helped to relaunch our bilateral relations. Let?s not forget that Italy is home to one of the largest Indian communities in Europe,” he said.
He continued, “Italy is also a member of the International Solar Alliance and CDRI, the international coalition promoting disaster-resistant infrastructure, both of which have strong support from India. The Italian recognition of the Indian Covishield vaccine also points towards greater collaboration in the medical field and in space technology.”
“India has set itself ambitious targets in renewable energy, biofuels and green hydrogen. Several Italian companies are already working in India on energy production projects. For the future, new opportunities are foreseen to strengthen this energy partnership,” Shringla added.
“After Italy, India will take over the leadership of the G20. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an opportunity to encourage our bilateral trade relations by projecting them towards the future, in the context of a more decisive and extensive sharing of global responsibilities, the foreign secretary concluded.
Shringla informed media persons about PM Modi?s invitation to G20 nations to ?make India their partner in economic recovery? and called for supply chain diversification. ?At G20 session, PM Modi stressed on the need for resilient global supply chains, spoke about India?s bold economic reforms,? he said.
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