India will work with Brazil for consensus at G20: Amitabh Kant

NEW DELHI: Amid rising tension in West Asia, India’s sherpa to G20 Amitabh Kant on Thursday said India will work with Brazil to work out a consensus at next month’s leaders’ summit, where the conflict and climate will be two contentious issues.
“Geopolitically, the challenge that India was confronted with when it hosted G20 has got aggravated. We are confronted by global conflict and a scenario where the global supply chain has been affected.We need to drive global growth because that is the only way to tackle poverty. We need to address issues related to Global South, including realigning multilateral development banks (MDBs). The third challenge is new technology, AI, quantum computing, biosciences, which will contribute to global growth will need a global agreement,” he said at an event hosted by think tank ICRIER, adding that India will work to ensure a development agenda.
At the event, N K Singh, co-chair of the expert group that charted out the roadmap for MDBs, said a year after India’s presidency, there has been limited progress in implementing the plan. “It is not all gloom. There has been tangible progress in terms of enhanced awareness,” he said, but also flagged several concerns, including lethargy on part of shareholders.
Besides, he said, World Bank-type agencies had not shrunk processes to speed up clearances, nor had they adequately tapped private capital or worked out synergies with similar entities. “It goes beyond setting up private sector labs,” he lamented.