THE INDIAN EXPRESS

APLN member Shyam Saran writes on SCO ministerial and argues that to seize multilateral moment, India must invest in corps of negotiators to make its presence felt at global meets. Read the original article here.

The year 2023 is truly India’s multilateral moment. India is host to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit scheduled for July 3-4, 2023. It is also host to the subsequent G20 summit to be held on September 9-10. No host country of previous SCO and G-20 summits has convened as many meetings as India has. These have often been accompanied by colourful side events. The locations have covered major cities of India, both ancient and modern. The summits themselves promise to be major, even spectacular events, showcasing India’s rich cultural heritage and its contemporary achievements. One positive fallout of this effort has been the urgent improvement of our urban spaces. Another has been the increase in public awareness of India’s external relations, not always a major concern among its people. That this is related to creating a larger-than-life image of the ruling dispensation and its leadership in the run up to the 2024 general elections is undeniable. But whatever be the motivation, it cannot be denied that India playing host to the SCO and G-20 summits this year has boosted its regional and international profile, expanded its diplomatic space, and created opportunities to advance its interests in a congested and contested geopolitical space.