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    Narendra Modi and the democratisation of G20: 3 key takeaways from PM interview with Moneycontrol

    Nalin MehtaBy Updated:No Comments2 Mins Read

    This article was first published on  firstpost.com |  September 06, 2023

    The PM’s assertion about the democratisation of the G20 and how differently India has organised the event reflects not only a lasting legacy that India’s G20 presidency will leave behind in diplomatic terms but also a nuanced political approach to big events domestically

    Several key things stand out from PM Narendra Modi’s latest interview with Network 18’s Rahul Joshi, Santosh Menon, Karthik Subbaraman and Javed Sayed where the prime minister laid out his plans ahead of the global summit:

    Democratisation of the G20: The PM’s assertion about the democratisation of the G20 and how differently India has organised the event — with 220 meetings being held in 60 cities across all 28 states and eight Union Territories.

    This is significantly different from the usual mono-focus on national capitals. It reflects not only a lasting legacy that India’s G20 presidency will leave behind in diplomatic terms but also a nuanced political approach to big events domestically. As PM Modi put it, “Historically, in the circles of power, there was a certain reluctance to think beyond Delhi, particularly Vigyan Bhavan, for hosting national and international meets. This may have been due to convenience or lack of confidence in the people.”

    Modi insisted that he has not made any of his major policy announcements from Vigyan Bhawan. Even the UPI announcement, for example, was made at the Talkatora stadium.

    In some ways, this decentralising approach is a natural offshoot of the Modi government’s approach in bilateral diplomacy as well. In terms of world leaders, the then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel was hosted in Bengaluru. French President Emmanuel Macron and the then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Varanasi. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was hosted in Goa and Mumbai. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Shantiniketan. The then-French President Francois Hollande visited Chandigarh.

    In terms of multilateral forums, India hosted the BRICS Summit in Goa and the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Corporation Summit in Jaipur.

    Read full article on firstpost.com

    This article was first published on firstpost.com |  September 06, 2023

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    Nalin Mehta is Managing Editor, Moneycontrol, Chief AI Officer - Editorial Operations, Network18 and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He is an award-winning Indian journalist, political scientist and author who has held senior leadership positions in major media companies and educational institutions; served as an international civil servant with the UN and the Global Fund in Geneva, Switzerland; taught and held research positions at universities and institutions in Australia (La Trobe University, ANU), Singapore (NUS), Switzerland (International Olympic Museum) and India (Shiv Nadar University, IIM Bangalore). Most recently, he has been Dean and Professor at School of Modern Media, UPES University. He has previously been Group Consulting Editor, Network18; Executive Editor, The Times of India-Online, Managing Editor, India Today (TV channel) and Consulting Editor, The Times of India. Mehta is the author of several best-selling and critically acclaimed books, including The New BJP: Modi and the Making of the World’s Largest Political Party (hailed as a ‘seminal’ work, No. 1 on Amazon’s bestseller lists for 26 consecutive weeks in 2022, and republished worldwide in several languages); India’s Techade: Digital Revolution and Change in the World’s Largest Democracy, India on Television (Asian Publishing Award for Best Book on Asian Media, 2009), Behind a Billion Screens (Longlisted as Business Book of the Year, Tata Literature Live, 2015) and Dreams of a Billion (2022 Ekamra Sports Book of the Year Award, co-authored). His edited books include Gujarat Beyond Gandhi (co-editor), Television in India and The Changing Face of Cricket (co-editor). Mehta is a DFID-Commonwealth scholar with a Ph.D in Political Science from Trobe University, Melbourne; M.A. International Relations from University of East Anglia, UK; and B.A. Journalism (Honours) from University of Delhi.

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