Goyal emphasised that India’s voice in G20 represents the voice of all developing countries

G20 has acknowledged India's leadership on global concerns and has supported the views of India on a wide array of issues which would come up in the upcoming Summit, India's Sherpa to G-l20 Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

He was briefing the media after the Ministerial meeting of G20 Sherpas in Rome, Italy.

The agenda of the Sherpas’ meeting was to finalize the Rome Declaration which will be adopted by the Leaders at the G20 Summit being hosted by Italy.

Over the past three days, Goyal participated in the 6th G20 Sherpas’ meeting and held bilateral meetings with many of his G20 counterparts like UK, Germany, France, EU, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had arrived in Rome earlier on Friday morning to attend his 8th G20 Summit at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Italy is holding the Presidency of the G20 this year under the theme - ‘People, Planet, Prosperity’.

There is a focus on: "Recovery from the pandemic & strengthening global health governance, Economic recovery & resilience, Climate change & energy transition and Sustainable development & food security".

Briefing the media, Goyal said India fully supported the priority areas chosen by Italy.

The G20 had emerged as the premier global forum for international cooperation, he pointed out. He said that G20 represents 80% of the world's GDP, 75% of global trade and 60% of the world's population.

The Minister said that the G20 had endorsed India’s position that extensive COVID-19 immunization is a global public good and he was happy to get support from G20 colleagues for his suggestion on mutual recognition of travel documents, including testing and vaccine certificates.

On the issue of Sustainable Development and food security, he said that we have insisted that policies must protect interests of small and marginal farmers, conserve local food cultures which in turn will ensure food security

Goyal said that on Climate Change and Environment, India has strongly spoken on the need for critical enablers for galvanizing global Climate action, which includes commensurate, long term, concessional climate finance, access to affordable and sustainable technology, commitment to adopt sustainable lifestyles and responsible consumption patterns and importance of meeting SDG-12 targets, especially by the developed countries.

On the issue of post covid Economic Recovery, he said, as co-chairs of the G20 Framework Working Group, India is ensuring that there is no premature withdrawal of support and the most vulnerable sections are provided necessary support. G20 has agreed to extend the Debt Service Suspension initiative till the end of 2021, thereby giving some breathing space to those in need and the vulnerable population around the world

Goyal added that on the issue of Tax Reforms, India has pushed the G20 to address mismatch between source of generation of profits and the jurisdiction where they are taxed. This will ensure that large MNCs pay a minimum effective corporate tax in the country of their operation.

Goyal said that on Anti-Corruption matters , India as the G20 co-chair of the Anti-Corruption working group this year, has contributed towards the five think pieces related to asset recovery, Information sharing, Law Enforcement Cooperation, Technology & Denial of Safe Haven.

On the issues concerning Women Empowerment -Education & Employment, the Minister for Commerce and Industry Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, he said that India supports G20’s emphasis on women’s empowerment. We strongly advocated for the inclusion of language against gender-based violence and supported the new policy framework of G20 on ‘remote working arrangements’

Goyal added that India highlighted the importance of recovery of the Tourism sector especially given the impact of COVID-19 on this sector. India welcomes G20 focus on creative economy and preserving cultural heritage was supported by India

The Minister said that India strongly pushed for the need for balancing the ‘data free flow with trust’ narrative with cross border data flows and accommodating development imperatives of the developing countries. He added that G20’s endorsement of using ‘data for development’ is a matter of great satisfaction.

The Minister emphasised that India’s voice in G20 represents the voice of all developing countries. He said that it was following PM Modi’s suggestion to the Saudi Leadership in 2020 that, G20 convened an extraordinary Summit on the COVID-19 situation last year.

This year, Italy convened a special summit to leverage the G20’s influence in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

G20 also focused on the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially the rights of women, children, minorities and vulnerable people in Afghanistan, according to the principles enshrined in the UN Charter and other relevant international instruments.