The previous 17 presidencies of the G20 delivered significant results — ensuring macro-economic stability, rationalising international taxation, and relieving the debt burden on countries, among many other outcomes. We will benefit from these achievements, and build further upon them.
However, as India assumes this important mantle, I ask myself — can the G20 go further still? Can we catalyse a fundamental mindset shift, to benefit humanity as a whole? I believe we can.
Our mindsets are shaped by our circumstances. Through all of history, humanity lived in scarcity. We fought for limited resources, because our survival depended on denying them to others.
Confrontation and competition — between ideas, ideologies and identities — became the norm.
Unfortunately, we remain trapped in the same zero-sum mindset even today. We see it when countries fight over territory or resources. We see it when supplies of essential goods are weaponised. We see it when vaccines are hoarded by a few, even as billions remain vulnerable.
Some may argue that confrontation and greed are just human nature. I disagree. If humans were inherently selfish, what would explain the lasting appeal of so many spiritual traditions that advocate the fundamental oneness of us all?
One such tradition, popular in India, sees all living beings, and even inanimate things, as composed of the same five basic elements —the panch tatva of earth, water, fire, air, and space. Harmony among these elements — within us and between us — is essential for our physical, social and environmental well-being.
India’s G20 presidency will work to promote this universal sense of oneness. Hence our theme — “One Earth, One Family, One Future”.
This is not just a slogan. It takes into account recent changes in human circumstances, which we have collectively failed to appreciate.
Today, we have the means to produce enough to meet the basic needs of all people in the world.
Today, we do not need to fight for our survival —our era need not be one of war. Indeed, it must not be one!
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