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LEH: The three-day Y20 Pre-summit taking place here is an opportunity to convey the message to the G20 group of nations that India is “here” and “moving forward”, asserted the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh BD Mishra here on Wednesday.
More than 100 young delegates from 30 countries have converged in Leh for the Pre-summit to deliberate on climate change, global economy and how to bring about peace across the world, among other issues.
The Y20, or Youth20 Pre-Summit, is a precursor to the “Main Y20 Summit”, which will take place in the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh in August this year.
The inputs of the Main Y20 Summit will then be fed into the Leaders’ Summit to be held in September in New Delhi, which will be the culmination of India’s G20 presidency for 2023.
With the Y20 Pre-Summit set to enter the crucial negotiation phase on Thursday, Mishra interacted with some of the delegates from other countries, and said he was happy that Leh was contributing in a big way to finding possible solutions to several problems plaguing the world by hosting the event.
“This (hosting the event) is one of the contributions (of Ladakh to G20 and Y20), and I would say that we are feeling happy about the fact that we (as a country) are conveying a message to the entire G20 countries that we also are here and we are moving forward,” said Mishra.
The 100-odd participants here will negotiate on five thematic areas, namely, future of work, climate change and disaster risk reduction, peace building and reconciliation, youth in democracy, and health, wellbeing and sports.
Mishra lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having the vision to organise the G20 programme on such a grand scale.
“This (G20 success) is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. The G20 has been going on for a very long time and several countries have been its chairpersons. But the Narendra Modi government has given it a new direction, a new theme and a new vision. No one else can do it,” said the Lt Governor.
“I don’t think a programme like this has been organised by any other G20 country,” he added.
He also called the people, coming to India for different events being organised under G20, as ambassadors who will speak in glowing terms about India when they return home.
“The people who have come from other countries are our ambassadors. They will go back and they’ll all talk about it (how successfully India is presiding over G20).” He added that G20 had become a household name in India.
“The enthusiasm that G20 has generated (in India), even the person who doesn’t know one word of English knows about G20. Secondly, the social, economic and emotional bond that it is forging (in the country) and the footprint it is leaving is unique. It is playing a key role in bringing the people in the country close. It is playing a big role in that. This is one of the (several) carry homes of G20,” he said.
