New Delhi: One of the highlights of the New Delhi G20 was the inclusion of the African Union. This will facilitate the developed and developing countries representing their constituencies at the same table. Their interests and concerns vary but when they sit across to discuss issues concerning them the gap between the two will be equitably addressed.
In the press briefing EAM Jaishankar mentioned that it was during the Bali summit that President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa came up to Prime Minister Modi who was to take over the Presidency of G20 next, and asked him about the African Union being included in the Forum. To that Modi assured him that the African Union will get its membership during his Presidency.
Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson of the President of South Africa, Ramaphosa who attended the G20, said that the inclusion is of great value to the African Union. He said, with this inclusion Africa is going to be a part of the processes to reshape the global agenda on development and finance, SA being a continent of 1.4 billion people.
On SA adopting UPI from India, he said, ‘There is cooperation on multiple levels. Pharmaceuticals, Automobiles, space programmes. We wish to increase our trade with India to improve our economy. We are focusing on leveraging our bilateral relationship & cooperation.’
On the effect of Russia Ukraine conflict Vincent said, ‘If we look at our own foreign policy it centres around relationships with all countries of the world. We are not aligned to any particular power but to maintain relations with all countries. So what India has done is very much in line with our own foreign policy. South Africa has always advocated inclusivity.’
On what kind of engagement are they looking forward to & what are the key issues, the Presidential Rep said, ‘We are looking for a very positive & constructive engagement, how do we collectively mitigate effects of climate change to be inclusive & fair & concede the social & economic dimensions of smaller countries that are not part of the G20 but now have a voice in such a fora. Issues of international security for example our continent has still a fair amount of conflict which undermines our developmental agendas & so we will be seeking more cooperation on those issue & we will be advocating more to developed countries to see through their commitments on mitigation of climate change.’
What the expansion of G20 signals is the right steps towards realizing the reforms which we would like to see in multilateral institutions. G20 is the premium platform for international cooperation and the realization that you cannot forge ahead with a common future, Vincent said.
