SUMMARY
With the G20 Presidency this year, India has listed out an accelerated and inclusive path towards its progress on achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly health and education, as the key priorities for the upcoming G20 Summit.
The second Sherpa meeting under India's G20 presidency kickstarted here on Friday (March 31) with Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan expressing hope the Kumarakom deliberations will help in achieving ambitious and agreed outcomes. (Image: PIB)
Addressing delegates, Muraleedharan said the G20 theme based on universal brotherhood i.e. "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" or "One Earth One Family One Future" has found resonance across the world, with its all encompassing, inclusive message, capturing the diverse global challenges of the day.
"Our broad G20 priorities of Green Development, Climate Finance and LiFE; Accelerated, Inclusive and Resilient Growth; Accelerating progress on SDGs; Technological Transformation and Public Digital Infrastructure; Multilateral Institutions of the 21 Century and Women-Led development have found broad acceptance. "
"With South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, AU Chair Comoros, Mauritius and AUDA-NEPAD, the Indian Presidency has the highest ever participation from Africa in any G20", he said, adding all of this has been possible only due to our collective efforts despite the challenges the world is facing right now. Pictured: foreign delegates dressed in Traditional Kerala attire. (Image: PIB)
Meanwhile, diplomats from across the world were excited to see a bicycle placed at a resort on the banks of a beautiful lake in this scenic Kumarakom where side events of the second G20 Sherpa meeting are currently underway. The bicycle was placed in front of a screen that was erected to showcase CoWIN, a powerful example of how digital technology can expand public health programmes, and reflects the strides India, world's most populated nation, continues to make in digital technology for public services. As she pedaled the stationary bicycle, the screen displayed the fascinating story of India which as of March, 20, 2023 delivered 2.2 billion vaccination doses to 1.1 billion registered persons. (Image: PIB)
A medical doctor assigned to narrate India's success story to the delegates, said the Dutch delegates really enjoyed pedalling the cycle and took note of the presentation. She informed the delegates about the historic achievement of the nation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled CoWIN along with the launch of the national Covid-19 vaccination campaign on January 16, 2021. Indian officials said it was indeed a moment marking the beginning of a story that touched over a billion lives in less than 18 months. (Image: PIB)
Narrating the story of the biggest vaccination drive in the world, India's Sherpa Amitabh Kant informed the delegates that India's vaccination drive was totally paperless. The Dutch diplomat said the digitalisation is very important for a country like India. "Netherlands is the most digitalised country in the world. So, we really like this topic...", she said. (Image: PIB)
Officials said invoking the G20 Presidency theme of "One Earth One Family One Future" the second Sherpa meet being held here will deleiberate India's experience and leadership in building an inclusive and effective implementation of DPIs that are crucial to accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, including financial inclusion, and equitable access to education and health. Demonstrating the power of the India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), NASSCOM along with the industry on Thursday created an immersive Digital India Experience zone, highlighting various DPIs built by India such as Aadhar, UPI, DigiLocker and DIKSHA and its impact on the last mile. (Image: PIB)
With the G20 Presidency this year, India has listed out an accelerated and inclusive path towards its progress on achieving Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), particularly health and education, as the key priorities for the upcoming G20 Summit. Providing an immersive experience to the Sherpas of the G20 member countries and other dignitaries, the experience zones showcased India’s success story in developing a new approach to solving societal and service delivery problems using DPI, while encouraging access to innovation. (Image: PIB)