Opinion: PM Modi’s US visit: India’s future path is taking shape, understand the importance

Author: Pankaj Saran
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will once again be on the big stage on Monday when he/she attends the United Nations summit in New York. This conference is important for the future of the world and India will play a key role in it.

Summit started in 2021

The summit began in 2021 with the recognition that we cannot meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century with outdated 20th century UN ideas and processes. The conference gives leaders from around the world an opportunity to decide how to make today better and safeguard the opportunities of tomorrow. The UN Secretary-General has described it as an exercise in building trust.

There will be an agreement for the future

The main document of this conference will be ‘A Pact for the Future’, which will guide humanity on the path to the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030 and beyond. Five main points have been chosen for this: sustainable development and funding for development, international peace and security, science, technology, innovation and digital cooperation, youth and the next generation and changes in global governance. With this agreement, there will be a discussion on what the future should be like and a global digital deal.

The world has great interest in India

India has a big stake in this conference and its outcome, but more so in the future of the world. The world has an equally big stake in India’s transformation. In its statement at the preparatory meeting for the conference in 2023, India had clearly stated that the story of the United Nations has been mixed. India said, the mistakes of the past must not be repeated in the future. Let us imagine a tomorrow that is inclusive and forward-looking.

The summit is being held in an atmosphere of hope and despair

This conference is taking place in an atmosphere of hope and despair. Hope because countries like India have made their mark. Today their voices are being heard more than ever. Despair because a crisis of global leadership has ruptured East-West relations. The clouds of war are looming and the world is on the brink. These tensions are casting their dark shadow over the conference. Traditional powers have failed to fulfill their responsibility to maintain international peace and security, which is vital for global development and stability. India and many other countries are questioning whether the future of the world can be left in their hands, and the answer is ‘no’. The future cannot be one of war, climate disaster and political and economic exclusion.

India will demand to abolish the old model!

India can be expected to demand a complete overhaul of the old model of global governance. It will speak out against the Cold War mindset that has done more harm than good. It will try to bring real issues like livelihoods, equity, environment and empowerment to the centre stage. It will offer an alternative vision of how countries should co-exist, respect diversity and create the ecosystems needed to unleash the potential of the vast majority of humanity. India can share many lessons with the world, not least its decades-long success in the peaceful and democratic transition of 1.4 billion people. India can be expected to insist that the future belongs to the world, not just the victors of World War II.

PM Modi took part in the Quad Summit

Ahead of the UN summit, the Prime Minister attended the Quad summit in Delaware. At this summit, two of its members, the host United States and Japan, were represented by leaders who are facing serious domestic political challenges. This comes at a time when two of its members, the US and Australia, have opened significant channels of dialogue with China since the last summit in May 2023. The Americans have visited China several times at the cabinet level while Australia has visited at the prime ministerial level. The bigger story is the shift in India-China relations. Within a month of the Quad summit, Prime Minister Modi will share a table with President Xi Jinping. Despite all the noise, China, on its part, remains engaged with Western economies.

still a long way to go

As each of its components pursues its own approach to China, the Quad gives its members a platform to play the long-term game in the Indo-Pacific. The expansion of areas of cooperation has accelerated since the first summit in 2021, from maritime domain awareness to supply chain resilience, health security to scholarships. The measures being taken today will have an impact only in the long run, but it is better late than never.

India has been right on Covid-19, Ukraine, the green effect, digital transformation and global recovery. There is still a long way to go but shaping the outcomes of such meetings is essential to accelerate India’s path to modernisation.

(The author is a former Deputy NSA.)