A big event on India’s 2023 calendar is the G-20 summit it will host in September. This will be the first time such a large number of world leaders are in the country at the same time. In keeping with the evolving G-20 practice at the end of the Bali summit, held last November, Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo, formally handed over G-20 presidency to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India is to host the next one. On December 1, G-20 president’s office started functioning in Delhi. G-20 was the result of an initiative taken by G-7, the world’s most powerful economies, to enlist the cooperation of emerging economies in managing global trends. They had found it increasingly difficult to do without the cooperation of the rising powers.   

Except for the right to chair the meetings, G-20  presidency does not entail any power or privilege. But since assuming the presidency, Modi has been trying to create the impression that it involved a special honour to the country, if not to himself. Releasing the India G-20 summit logo, he said G-20 presidency was not merely a diplomatic meeting for India. It was a new responsibility and a measure of the world’s trust in India. G-20 comprises 19 countries and the European Union. Of the 19 countries, as many as 17 had served as President before India. One cycle will be completed when South Africa succeeds India as President after the Delhi summit.

If Modi’s points about responsibility and trust are relevant, the question arise why India had to wait so long for the presidency. The government has planned a host of activities across the country to publicise India’s G-2o presidency, using opportunities presented by traditional festivals, and by creating new opportunities where necessary.

Thus G-20 will be showcased at the Hornbill festival in the northeastern state of Nagaland. Odisha’s sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik will etch the G-20 logo on the beach at Puri. Another planned activity is an interaction with 75 educational institutions, lighting up 100 monuments with the G-20 logo. Officials have indicated that no state or union territory will be without one kind of G-20 related activity or another.  Before the summit there will be G-20 meetings at the level of ministers and officials as well as meetings of non-governmental organisations.  Some such meetings may be held after the summit too.

The Indian media are already playing up G-20 as a big-ticket event. Quoting officials, they have said many of the planned events will be at exotic locations. Some of them will be held alongside of various traditional festivals, as, for instance, the kite festival in Modi’s home state of Gujarat. Officials attributed the decision to schedule events in remote parts of the country to Modi’s vision of connecting all 766 administrative districts of India to spread the message of people’s participation.

To involve youth, activities such as competitions, talks and cultural programmes around the G20 summit and its themes are also planned. A newgen idea the government has come up with envisages selfie contests with the G-20 logo across India’s famous monuments, to be promoted through social media platforms. Every planned activity offers immense opportunity to focus on the logo. According to Modi, the logo reflects the notion of universal brotherhood. India’s G-20 mantra, he says, is One Earth, One Family, One Future.   A prominent motif of the logo is the lotus. Modi describes it as “a symbol of hope in these tough times”. He says it is not just another logo, but one that conveys many key messages. In this context, he refers also to the Buddha’s message of freedom from war and Mahatma Gandhi’s message of non-violence.  Notwithstanding the many lofty ideals it symbolises, the presence of the lotus in the logo makes it politically inappropriate as the lotus is the election symbol of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Widespread use of the logo with the lotus throughout this year is sure to confer an advantage on the ruling party in the many Assembly elections to be held this year and, more importantly, in the parliamentary elections due early next year in which Modi will be seeking a third successive mandate.