By Yemi Olakitan
After years of not actively participating in world affairs, India has rescued Nigeria from the diplomatic slammer.
According to an official, India is adding a fresh perspective and a special emphasis to the efforts being made by the world’s top voices in development, democracy, and economics to change the course of history.
According to India’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Gangadharan Balasubramanian, “We have basically four goals, and they are inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth; lifestyle for environment and climate change; technology-enabled transformation, and multilateral reforms.”
The Club of Twenty (G20), a group of 19 nations and the European Union with an emphasis on global economy and development, is currently led by India. In the lead-up to the G20’s major summit in September, India has made a number of preparations that reflect its new strategy. The first was the invitation extended to nine nations, including Nigeria, who are not G20 members. Second, on January 12 and 13, 2023, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a virtual “Voice of the Global South Summit” where speakers from the global south, including the president of Nigeria, participated. Egypt, Bangladesh, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Oman, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Spain are further members of this group.
According to Balasubramanian, the conference provided an opportunity to explore the goals and needs of developing nations, as well as how they see the global commons and how they would like to be positioned within them.
For India, this is advantageous since it will make all of these issues prominent during the G20 conference.
According to the high commissioner, developing nations are significant powers whose presence and goals are crucial in determining the idea of global commons.
Speaking about the invitation from Nigeria, he stated, “India has a special relationship with Nigeria and the potential and strength of Nigeria are visible. With such a large population, it is but natural that your viewpoint will undoubtedly have an advantage, which is important for everyone to understand. This is an opportunity for both India and Nigeria and other countries who have been invited to present their viewpoint in a combined manner, which will undoubtedly be good.
In December 2022, India assumed the G20 chairmanship. The G20 summit will take place in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, 2023.