Anil Trigunayat

Anil Trigunayat

Former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya, and Malta; Distinguished Fellow and Head of the West Asia Experts Group at the Vivekananda International Foundation.
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India’s G20 Presidency: Promoting Oneness and Prosperity

India formally took over the baton of the G20 Presidency from Indonesia which started for one year from December 1, 2022. At the time of acceptance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated that “The world is looking at the G-20 with hope. Today, I want to assure that India’s G-20 presidency will be inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented. Over the next one year, we will strive to ensure that the G-20 acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action.” This was extremely important and flagged a dismal reality of a transitional global order and severe global challenges implicit in prevailing fragmentation, protectionism, and unilateralism in international discourse.

Year in Review: The Indian-Subcontinent

South Asia, with the exception of India, was perhaps the most severely impacted region in the world by the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war as the region’s domestic contradictions leading to leadership changes and inequities, and even debt-inducing foreign policies continued to play out and further complicate the adverse impacts.

It was not only the economy or the social landscape of countries like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, but their fragile polities faced even more devastating outcomes. Moreover, their smart gaming and balancing acts between the two competing regional super powers in China and India were severely hampered during the year as the Chinese BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) and its debt-trap and “wolf warrior” diplomacy not only came under stress but created a strategic rethink in several countries.

China’s Role in the Iran-Saudi Arabia Relations

Non-resolution of Palestinian issue is always on the platter to mobilise the Arab street. Hence the Chinese, so very dependent for their energy security on GCC countries and for their strategic BRI labyrinthine calculations, want to maintain at least a semblance of stability by engaging from Tehran to Tel Aviv, writes Amb. Anil Trigunayat, a former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta.

India’s G20 Presidency comes at a Difficult Time

For India all this has been a grave challenge while navigating the minefields of geo politics and securing her national interests and strategic autonomy. It is stuck as her strategic partners are at war. Her sane voice falls on deaf ears of geo political contestations.

Addressing the crucial meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers today, Prime Minister Modi reminded them that as leading economies of the world, they also have a responsibility towards those who are not in the room.

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