Experts Highlight India’s developments, Opportunities and Challenges at Sir Syed Academy Seminar on G20 Summit
Aligarh : Experts delineated India’s emerging role in international affairs and global economy, impact and benefits of digital revolution in the country, financial inclusion and women empowerment etc. and active role of Indian leadership in addressing the climate and sustainability challenges, during India’s G-20 Presidency, in the inaugural session of the two-day international seminar on ‘India’s G-20 Summit 2023: Opportunities and Challenges’, organized by Sir Syed Academy, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). They termed the G-20 Presidency as a historic moment for the country.
The Chief Guest of the event, Mr. Saurabh Garg IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, called the digital revolution of the country as a means of inclusion, adding that the G-20 Presidency has come at a very opportune moment for India. “This is happening when the country has become the fifth largest economy in the world and is rapidly moving towards the fourth and subsequently to the third place. The benefits are reaching a wide range of people”, he pointed out.
Mr. Garg emphatically said, “The growing digital public infrastructure in the country has empowered the people. Aadhaar verification can be done from anywhere, last month 10 million transactions were done through UPI, 2.5 lakh village Panchayats have optic fiber connections, Teledensity has increased in leaps and bounds, 72% women and 80% men in India have mobile phones, banking services have reached to around 6 lakh villages through POS machines and 50 crore bank accounts were opened under Jan Dhan Yojana”.
Highlighting the benefits of expanding digital infrastructure Mr Garg also mentioned Mudra Yojana, ‘Bashini’ the voice-based translation facility that aims to enable all Indians easy access to digital services in their own language, GeM portal for online public procurement, and GigiLocker etc.
He also mentioned Swachh Bharat Yojana, Udan Scheme etc. and said that India has given a very positive message to the world by emphasizing the theme of ‘One Planet, One Family, One Future’ through the G-20 Forum.
Mr. Rohit Bansal, Guest of Honour and Group Head of Communications, Reliance Industries, said that climate change, sustainability and women’s empowerment are important agendas of the G-20 Summit in which the common youth and women of the country also have a stack. “Sustainable lifestyles and habits should be adopted to safeguard the environment”, he emphasized.
Presiding over the inaugural session, AMU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mohammad Gulrez said that India has reached new milestones, and provides effective leadership to the Global South, which has both opportunities and challenges for our youth.
“India’s influence in international affairs is getting stronger. BRICS, ASEAN, QUAD, South Asian Grid, G-20 Forum etc. are indicators of India’s growing influence. By 2025, India will become the third largest economy in the world”, he said, stressing that attention should be paid to include minorities and women in the journey of progress and development.
The Vice Chancellor also laid stress on working for quantum computing, carbon emissions and artificial intelligence which is changing the employment landscape for our youth.
“India’s G-20 Presidency has created an atmosphere of excitement in the country and AMU also organized several programmes on various aspects of G-20, thereby raising awareness among the youth and exhorting them to play their role in nation-building”, Prof Gulrez added.
Earlier, AMU Registrar Mr. Mohammad Imran IPS highlighted the themes of G-20 Summit and significance of this Forum for India and world. He also introduced the guest speakers.
Professor Ali Mohammad Naqvi, Director, Sir Syed Academy delivered the welcome address. He said that the G-20 is the largest forum in the world as it represents a large population and the largest economies in the world. “This two-day international seminar is providing an opportunity for researchers to analyze and explore various themes of G-20 and India’s emerging role in world affairs”, he said. Prof Naqvi also mentioned the publications of Sir Syed Academy.
On this occasion, five books published by Sir Syed Academy on the topics related to G-20 and the ninth volume of ‘Maqalat-e- Sir Syed’, which is based on Sir Syed’s international perspective, were released.
Dr. Mohammad Shahid, Deputy Director, Sir Syed Academy proposed a vote of thanks. Dr. Syed Hussain Haider conducted the proceedings.
Later on, in the academic session of the seminar, Prof. AR Kidwai, Prof. Saud Alam Qasmi, Prof. Obaidullah Fahd, Prof. Muhibbul Haque etc. deliberated upon ‘Sir Syed’s International Vision.