Has the spectacle of the G20 announced the arrival of India as an “impresario” of the international system, much like the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics heralded the emergence of China? “Too early to tell!”, would probably be the niggardly response of the Chinese leadership — most to gain from continuing uncertainty about India’s presence. In suggesting as much, Beijing would approvingly echo popular apocryphal stories about how an ageing Chinese Premier responded, in similar faux Confucian fashion, to the impact of the French Revolution, nearly 200 years later, while on a visit to Paris.
Beyond an obvious need to be patient and take a long-term
view, but not a Chinese-chequered one, the reality is that any semi-objective
assessment of India’s presidency, the summit and the events over the last year,
would be a no-brainer: the benefits overwhelm the downside. In sum, the
Presidency of the G20 has given New Delhi the weight and influence that India
has rarely experienced in its contemporary history. Contrarians can often miss
the tree for the forest: For example, Oman’s delegation, perhaps, should have
been greeted with a shehnai rather than the Garba or we didn’t have enough
haute culture, but these awkward moments pale into insignificance if you move
from the granular detail to a view with greater perspective. For India seems to
have demonstrated both wisdom and cleverness (bordering on the crafty), and
fortunately, in increasing its gravitas, it has still not lost its soul.
Most importantly, the G20 Summit demonstrated India’s
convening power, and its ability to generate a consensus at a platform, whose
genesis may have been in the financial crises, but today is arguably the most
important forum engaged with the world’s most consequential problems.
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