UN Chief Optimistic About India's Role in Bridging Geopolitical Divides at G20 Summit

JAKARTA: In anticipation of the G20 Leaders' Summit set to take place in India, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has conveyed his unwavering belief in India's capacity to surmount existing geopolitical divisions and ensure the summit concludes with meaningful outcomes. Guterres, who will be attending the summit, is confident that India, as the host, will go to great lengths to bridge existing geopolitical divides.

Guterres shared his positive outlook while in Jakarta during the 13th ASEAN-UN Summit, emphasizing India's crucial role as the G20 host and its support for integrating the African Union (AU) into this assembly of the world's most influential economies.

India assumed the year-long G20 Presidency in December of the previous year, and the forthcoming Leaders' Summit in Delhi coincides with numerous global challenges. These include the ongoing Ukraine conflict, the far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic slowdowns, intensifying climate change concerns, growing poverty, and inequalities on a global scale.

For Guterres, attending the G20 Summit is an opportunity to address key issues. He stressed the importance of a clear message regarding the reform of the international financial system to make it more responsive to today's world. Additionally, he called for measures to facilitate debt relief and provide access to long-term concessional funding for developing nations struggling with the impacts of COVID-19, the Ukrainian conflict, and other crises that have pushed many nations to the brink of debt distress.

The UN Secretary-General noted that numerous countries face situations where they lack the fiscal capacity to meet their citizens' needs. Simultaneously, he expressed a keen interest in seeing emerging economies and developed nations at the G20 Summit unite in their approach to increase ambition in two crucial areas: mitigating emissions to combat the looming climate crisis and ensuring justice by supplying developing nations with the necessary resources for climate action in adaptation and mitigation.

Guterres underscored the UN's strong partnership with the African Union, highlighting Africa's significant underrepresentation in today's international institutions. He pointed out that many of these institutions were established at a time when Africa was still predominantly under colonial rule. Consequently, Africa was doubly disadvantaged by colonialism and its exclusion from the formation of entities like the UN and the Bretton Woods system.

The UN Chief advocated for the presence of at least one African nation as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to rectify this historical oversight. Moreover, he expressed his support for the African Union's inclusion as a member of the G20.

The G20, comprising the world's 19 wealthiest nations and the European Union, is poised to address these global challenges with India taking a central role as the host, as the world watches with anticipation.

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