G20 India Presidency Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla speaks during the special briefing for G20 Envoys and invited countries and international organizations at the G20 Summit in India on November 26, 2022 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. | Photo credit: PTI
On November 29, before assuming the G20 presidency, senior diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla made a strong case for a new technology order that combines cross-border technology and investment flows with development and growth apparatus.
Mr Shringla, India’s main coordinator for the G20, said at the Global Technology Summit that the principle of data for development will be an integral part of the overall theme of India’s presidency of the Group of Developed and Emerging World Countries.
“Our Presidency will strive to create a holistic global health architecture that can better respond to future health crises like the COVID pandemic,” he said.
India is poised to officially take over the G20 presidency from Indonesia on December 1st.
The G20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
Mr Shringla said it was important to focus on the benefits that technological advances and evidence-based policies can offer when it comes to expanding access to health care and nutrition.
“At the G20, this model can be internationalized. Digital India must go global. A new technology order must combine cross-border technology and investment flows with development and growth aspirations,” he said.
Mr Shringla said India will strive with its G20 partners to create mechanisms that would strengthen the capacity of developing countries to deal with the health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and any future pandemics.
“We also need new approaches to intellectual property, innovation and co-development of health technologies to ensure a more inclusive response to health crises.”
Mr Shringla said India has also proposed a new engagement group called ‘Startup 20’ which aims to give startups from all countries the opportunity to collaborate with each other.
Earlier this month Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the logo for the G20 presidency, which features a lotus and the message “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – One Earth, One Family, One Future”.
In his monthly Mann ki Baat radio address on Sunday, Mr Modi said India should focus on the global good during his tenure, assuring that it had solutions to the challenges related to peace, unity, environment and sustainable development.
