Remarks by EAM, Dr. S. Jaishankar at event marking significance of African Union’s membership of the G20, Yashobhoomi

External Affairs

Remarks by EAM, Dr. S. Jaishankar at event marking significance of African Union’s membership of the G20, Yashobhoomi

In a recent address, Indian Foreign Minister highlighted the historic ties between India and Africa, emphasizing the shared journey from colonialism to independence. He underlined India's commitment to Africa's development, stressing that India's rise is incomplete without Africa's rise, aligning with a longstanding foreign policy principle.

The Foreign Minister reflected on India's G20 Presidency, noting the emphasis on making the agenda more Africa-centric, achieving permanent African Union membership in G20, and addressing Africa's aspirations. Key achievements included an action plan for accelerating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a Green Development Pact, and a focus on digital public infrastructure.

He discussed G20 outcomes beneficial to Africa, such as reformed multilateralism, a focus on food security, Green Hydrogen for energy security, and global cooperation on health issues, especially post-COVID. The Minister also highlighted G20's awareness of cultural issues, including illicit trafficking of cultural property.

The speech touched on India-Africa relations, showcasing a balanced trade relationship exceeding $100 billion and significant Indian investments in Africa. Development partnerships, with over 200 projects and more than 30,000 scholarships, were highlighted as contributions to Africa's growth.

Looking ahead, the Foreign Minister urged continued collaboration, pointing to upcoming summits and advocating for joint efforts on the SDG Agenda 2030 and UN reform. He expressed gratitude for the support during India's G20 Presidency, concluding with invitations to Deepavali celebrations in Ayodhya and Varanasi.


Transcript of the Speech :- 

Let me say what a great pleasure it is to welcome you all here. As we gather together to really celebrate and appreciate the importance of the African Union's permanent membership of the G20. To truly understand that, I think it's important that we think back of the journey that India and Africa have gone together. This is not a new journey, it is something which, of course it has its beginnings in the recesses of history, but certainly from the 18th century I think we were both regions that were impacted by the advent of colonialism. And just as we struggled through that in the 19th, it was logical that the 20th century saw the independence struggles, the independence outcomes actually rectify as much in our part of the world as in Africa.

I think in many ways our destinies were interconnected, they certainly impacted each other. We learned a lot from struggles in Africa, just as I'm sure what happened in India also influenced many African countries and societies. Now I begin there because it has always been a belief, I would say almost a cardinal tenet of Indian foreign policy, that our independence was not complete without the independence of Africa, our development was not complete without the development of Africa, and our rise will only be full and firm when we also see the rise of Africa. So there is a certain, I would say, not only solidarity, not just shared interest, but something far deeper, that it is actually in our realizations of our aspirations and goals that the rebalancing of the world will happen, that when we speak about a multipolar world, for us a multipolar world will be multipolar when Africa is also one of the poles. And it is that background, it is that thinking which has really shaped Indian foreign policy over the years, and particularly so the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Excellencies,

Many of you would recall that very soon after he took office in 2014, we held the IAFS III Summit here in 2015. It was the most ambitious of its series. And I mention it because despite the COVID, we have largely delivered on our commitments in the IAFS, but also to seek your support, Excellencies, of the need to hold IAFS IV. Fairly soon, it has slipped for a variety of reasons, and I certainly hope that in 2024 we will find a way, because given the changes in the world, it is important that India and Africa develop a more contemporary agenda of cooperation. But other than the IAFS III in 2015, I think as the High Commissioner of Nigeria reminded us, Prime Minister Modi also articulated his commitment, his personal commitment during a visit to Africa in 2018, that the priorities of Africa are the priorities of India. That we would be guided by what are the interests of Africa, and we will certainly give in our own foreign policy a particular, a very special place to Africa. So what you saw at the G20 Summit, which the Sherpa, Mr. Kant referred to, was actually rectifying of what was a long-held belief and a very deep sentiment in the country and especially personally in the mind of the Prime Minister.

I would also say, as someone who has been associated particularly with the foreign policy making in the last decade, that one of the directions of the Prime Minister was that our foreign policy should reflect what is our domestic policy, and that domestic policy is an appreciation of diversity and of pluralism, a particular focus on inclusiveness, a commitment to social justice, focusing on the vulnerable and ensuring that no one is left behind. And that is exactly the kind of thinking. These are actually the principles which have also been our foreign policy principles of the last decade. So when we say today that India would like to be a Vishwa Mitra, ‘a friend of the world’, a friend of the world just like we are seeking within India, we are seeking within India; social justice, fairness, equity, access for all, affordability. These are exactly the goals which also guide our approach to international affairs.

Now we began our G20 with an exercise that I think made very clear how we intend to approach the responsibility of the Presidency. And that exercise was the Voice of the Global South Summit, which was held in January of this year. By doing the Voice of the Global South Summit, we very clearly signal to the G20 that this is what we are going to make as the subject centre for the duration of our Presidency. And I think, again, it is appropriate, it's very fitting, that as we conclude our Presidency, we once again do so with the Voice of the Global South Summit, which as you all know Excellencies, is planned for November 17th. And our expectation is that what has been achieved in the course of this year would really become a lasting agenda of the G20, that the refocus on the real issues of the world, which we try to promote this year, will be carried forward into the Brazilian and thereafter into the South African presidencies.

Now when we approached the G20, as I said, there were three broad strands in our thinking. One was how to make the G20 agenda Africa-centric, Global South-centric. So what should be the deliberations, what should be the outcomes, how do we do it in a much more meaningful way than in the past. The second was the permanent seat in the G20 for the African Union. Again Excellencies, you are all aware that this is something which had been deliberated for many years. This was not the first G20 when it came up for discussion, but we were very determined that unlike previous G20s, this will not end with a discussion, that we were very clear we will have an outcome, and as G20 chair, we took that lead, very confident that once somebody determinedly takes that lead and puts it firmly before the international community, it is something which was bound to happen, and we were glad we were proved right. And the third, of course, was the aspirations of Africa, that it is not just the requirements of Africa which needed to be met, it is also what Africa sees over the horizon, what it requires for its development in the coming decades. So the combination of changing, refocusing the agenda, ensuring AU admission, and addressing, reflecting the aspirations of Africa, this was very, very central to what we were seeking to do.

As you could see in terms of the outcome, I think there is really a very substantial set of domains where the G20 was actually able to progress. I particularly highlight the action plan for accelerating SDGs, because I think all of us know today that thanks to the COVID, SDG realization has fallen behind very, very sharply, and this has been confirmed by reports of the UN, by the stock-taking which the UN did in September, and clearly if the SDGs will not recover in their timelines unless the G20 really puts its shoulder to the wheel and gives it the support that it really deserves. The second is the Green Development Pact, because here again we have all seen, COP after COP, how promises are made, but also how promises are shorted, and it is again important that an institution like the G20 fully commit itself to the realization of green development. The third is actually resourcing such ambitions, because it is the resources that have been the vulnerability, the weak point. If the world has not been able to progress, if Africa in particular has been let down, part of it is because the resources were not made available. So I particularly compliment our colleagues from the finance track, because in the meeting in October, I think they have tried very hard to ensure that there is a serious attempt made to make available the resources, both for green growth and for sustainable development realization. The fourth is the digital public infrastructure. I think some of you also mentioned it, though you all live in India, so you have seen the transformational impact of the digital public infrastructure on our daily lives. It is something which we are willing and able to share both as experience and as capabilities with our partners, and the fact that the G20 today recognizes the transformational role of the digital public infrastructure, I think, would give that effort a very big boost. And finally, the G20's imprimatur on women-led development, I think, is again something we need to recognize, because as SDG has fallen behind, gender divides have also got sharper. These two needs to be reversed and reversed very fast.

Now there were some particular issues, I believe, at the G20 outcomes which are important for Africa, and I mentioned some of them. One is the emphasis on reformed multilateralism, because here again we all share the frustration of lack of progress in the negotiations, in the intergovernmental negotiations in the United Nations. But the fact that if G20 again comes on board, I think, and we've seen some progress in other forums as well, including recently at the BRICS meeting that we had, that on the basis of the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, how do we give Africa its due place in the highest councils of the world? I think this is a matter of interest, and here again the G20's deliberations have been to the advantage of Africa.

The second relates to my mind to food security. 2023 has been the International Year of Millets, and it is a campaign which we in India have taken great pride in promoting, it was something which the Prime Minister personally pushed, and each one of you, including at today's lunch, I think are by now deeply familiar with how effectively and creatively and tastefully, millets can be presented. But in my own travels in Africa, I've also been struck how deeply this is part of your tradition as much as it is of ours. And as we struggle today with the uncertainties of food accessibility and availability, when we looked at the problems on wheat supply and rice supply that the world has seen even in the last few years, the stress on millets, millet production can actually be a very big and bold and impactful step in global food security. So the fact that the Deccan principles on food security were adopted, I think was a very, very commendable step.

A third development I flag is of Green Hydrogen, because Green Hydrogen is not just climate friendly. I think it can make a huge difference to the energy security of developing countries. And here again, I think that is the basis for a common agenda between India and Africa.

The fourth is health, very understandable in the aftermath of COVID. So whether it is the expansion and I would say democratization of vaccine production or the focus on antimicrobial resistance, I think the G20 has done the world a signal service by stressing these issues. And we of course were also very glad that our Presidency saw the first summit on traditional medicine. It is something which is a very deep part of our culture and heritage. So I would like to flag to all of you Excellencies that it's an area where we should continue to work together, bearing in mind particularly that the WHO Global Centre of Excellence happens to be located in India.

I also would like to mention the fact that the G20 did show awareness on issues relating to culture, culture in terms of illicit trafficking of cultural property and restitution of the products of such trafficking. I think this too is part of a more fair and I would say, just conversation today between the developing world and the developed world.

Having spoken about G20, if you permit me, I take the opportunity to also assess where India and Africa stand today in our relationship. Our trade with Africa today is in excess of $100 billion and it's actually fairly evenly balanced. 27 African LDC countries benefit from our duty-free tariff preferences and our expectation is that this trade will easily double in the coming decade. It's not just trade, India is among the top five investors in Africa. Our estimated capital today is in excess of $80 billion. The bulk of our new Embassies, I remind you Excellencies, in the last decade have also opened in Africa. And not just Embassies, the first Indian Institute of Technology abroad opened in Africa. The first Forensic Sciences University abroad opened in Africa. So I don't need to stress to you today what is the importance that we attach, not just to our relationship but to the promise of those ties that we are actually betting on your future as well. And we see in our relationship actually a very, very powerful force that would rebalance the global polity which in our view has been skewed over the last two centuries.

In terms of our development partnership, again, we have always been very clear that we respond to the priorities of our partners. I'm glad to say that we've done actually more than 200 projects in Africa, 208 to be precise. And many of these are quite notable in your particular countries. I myself had the privilege of seeing some of them. In fact, whenever I have gone on a visit, it's been my good fortune to spend some time in one of the projects that we have recently done. And they are projects which have really made a difference to people's lives, that these are projects which have delivered on agriculture, on water, on energy, on IT, in terms of governance. So we're really proud of that. And we have also continuously, and this is part of our history, that we have continuously contributed to capacity building in Africa. So even after IAFS-III, I see that we have delivered on more than 30,000 scholarships. And whenever Africa has been in distress, our colleagues in Mozambique and Madagascar would vouch for it particularly, or many of you during COVID as well, that we have tried our best to respond through HADR operations. The period of the COVID was particularly testing. And I'm glad that we were not only able to contribute through COVAX, but also in many cases to do so bilaterally, through vaccine supplies from India.

So, I believe today that what has happened at the G20 is one step, a very important step, but one step on what is a larger partnership which has been unfolding and which has gathered pace in the last decade. As I look ahead next year, 2024, we will have the NAM Summit in Africa. We will have the G77 Summit in Africa. India and Africa must work together very closely in the Summit for the Future, because I think as the youngest demographies of the world, we have the most at stake when it comes to the future. It's important that we press the issue of the SDG Agenda 2030 together, that we also coordinate strongly on UN reform, and that we actually strive to make this a world which is much more sensitive to the Global South.

So, I thank you once again for joining me this afternoon, and I want to say that your expectations were a great source for us of energy and motivation, and we really take pride in the fact that in many ways the Indian G20 Presidency would be remembered as the shared facet, will be remembered for the India-Africa contribution that it has made.

And finally, as you know, we are approaching the festival of Deepavali. It is the biggest festival of this country. So I, of course, convey my good wishes to all of you. But I do want to share with you that we are inviting all heads of missions to visit Ayodhya on November 11th on Deepavali Day for what is called the Deepotsav, and two weeks later on November 27th we intend to organise a trip to Varanasi for the day of Deepavali celebrations. So I hope that most of you will be able to join us on that occasion.

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