AMRITSAR: As one of the 75 educational institutions identified by the Ministry of External Affairs to host the G20 ‘University Connect: Engaging Young Minds’ Lecture Series, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar in association with Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a New Delhi–based autonomous policy research institute, will hold a programme on April 28, to create awareness among the youth about India’s Presidency of G20.The event seeks to deepen the understanding of the goals that India is set to achieve as part of the G20 among the academic community.
India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022, with this the G-20 forum under the Indian leadership, will witness the largest-ever participation with 43 Heads of Delegations in the final New Delhi Summit in September 2023. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas (Leave no one behind) is fused in with India’s execution of its G-20 presidency. G20 is a unique grouping accounting for 85 percent of the global GDP, 75 percent of global trade, and 65 percent of the world’s population. As the leader of the Global South; India with its indispensable role in multilateral forums like the G20 is championing the cause of being the articulate voice of the unheard nations.
The G20 ‘University Connect’ was recently inaugurated by the External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar during a curtain raiser event at the Sushma Swaraj Bhawan with Vice Chancellors from 75 universities joining in virtually and physically to bring the lessons back to their respective institutions. During the event, while addressing the students the EAM said “Our endeavour is to make that consensus more relevant through a wider process of consultation. As the mother of democracy, India’s G20 presidency will be consultative, collaborative and decisive. As a result, the project ‘University Connect’: Engaging young minds organised jointly by the New Delhi-based Think Tank; RIS and the Ministry of External Affairs has planned a series of lectures and sessions parallel to high level meetings.
The University connect series will be executed in the form of Lectures, Mock G20 and other interactive activities enabling students to engage and be involved in the G20 process on the sidelines. The Project is leveraging the capabilities of the partner institutions with Research support from RIS offering its prodigious Intellectual resources and network of experts including former diplomats, academics, and subject experts to maintain the academic nature of the deliberations. Prior to the main event, the partner institutions are encouraged to organise essay competitions, quizzes, and other stimulating activities to keep the interest of the students geared towards the year-long G-20 proceedings in most cases happening in their hometowns. The students part of the G 20 university connect series can also highlight their suggestions through social media to bring attention to their inputs.
Guru Nanak Dev University has also appointed a nodal officer for the G20 ‘University Connect: Engaging Young Minds’ Lecture Series scheduled to be held in Amritsar on April 28, 2023. Moreover, an organising committee with officers of the university has also been formed for making preparations for hosting the G20 ‘University Connect: Engaging Young Minds’ Lecture Series in Amritsar.
The culmination of G20 proceedings along with ‘University Connect’ aims to harbour an all-inclusive outcome of the G-20 summit. In a time where multilateralism has taken a beating around the world through the isolationist policies of few leaders, India is rapidly filling the gap to bring agreements to a table without conflict, directing to solve global problems that need collective effort. At this point in time, with increasing global temperatures, terrorism, border aggression, market volatilities, all tied to the impending and major crisis of Climate Change, India is taking the charge by launching major global initiatives like the International Solar alliance (ISA) and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).