PM proposes new growth initiatives at G-20
MULTILATERAL ORGANISATIONS
23 NOVEMBER 2025
- Global parameters of growth need to be reconsidered, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, addressing the G-20 summit in Johannesburg, where he proposed new initiatives to balance growth and promote the political philosophy of “integral humanism”.
- The reference to the philosophy propounded by Jana Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyay in 1965 is significant, as it has been adopted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its “basic philosophy” in its political manifesto, and is considered a counter to “Western” political ideologies like “secularism, individualism and communism”. It is not, however, an official policy.
- Prime Minister Modi proposed the creation of a Global Traditional Knowledge Repository at the G-20, which would help transmit sustainable, and “eco-balanced ways of life” to future generations.
- He also said India was prepared to impart skill development to “one million” people across the African continent as part of a G-20-Africa Skills Multiplier Initiative, and also develop a G-20 Global Healthcare Response Team, and a G-20 Initiative on Countering the Drug–Terror Nexus.
- Mr. Modi also held talks with a number of leaders present, announcing a new Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership after a trilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
- The initiative will deepen cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, resilient supply chains, clean energy, and artificial intelligence between “democratic partners across three continents and three oceans”, Mr. Modi said in a post.
- This is the first time the G-20 grouping of the world’s largest economies has been hosted in an African country.
- However, the Summit was marked by the boycott of the United States, which did not send a leader to the event due to tense ties with South Africa.
- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would hand over the G-20 Presidency to an “empty chair”, though a U.S. diplomat will attend the function, and U.S. President Donald Trump plans to host the G-20 in 2026.
