Pathfinder participates at the 14th South Asia Conference in New Delhi

The 14th South Asia Conference hosted by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (MPIDSA) was held in New Delhi recently. The theme of the meeting attended by regional think tanks was ‘Think20@G20’: Towards a Resilient South Asia’, highlighting India’s presidency of the prestigious G20 group, which will be headed for the period 2022-2023 by the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

Think tanks and other representatives from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and India took part in the event. Participants from Sri Lanka included Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of Pathfinder Foundation; Anushka Wijesingha, Co-founder of Centre for Smart Future; and Dr. Ramani Gunatilaka, an independent Consultant. Meanwhile, Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja, Senior Research Associate, ODI Global (the U.K.), participated as a panellist.

With India taking over the helm of G20, the powerful grouping established in 1999 with economic issues as its primary focus, MPIDSA sought inputs from regional think tanks to address pressing issues confronting the developing countries. India has set up eight task forces covering macroeconomics, trade and livelihoods, digital public architecture, sustainable consumption, clean and green energy, global financial order, sustainable development goals and multilateralism to address related issues. India has demonstrated its commitment to play a significant role in the policy formulation of G20, a news release on the event said.

This year’s Chair of the T20 group is Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy, Director General of MP-IDSA, which hosted the 14th Annual Session of the South Asia Conference. The recommendations from the collective brainstorming in this Conference will be channeled to the G20 leadership track through Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator of India’s G20 Presidency.

During the two-day session, participants addressed climate, economics, gender, energy, agriculture, water resources, disaster management, boosting resilience and regional growth. The final session of the conference was devoted to “Looking Ahead”, in which the opportunity was taken to discuss how India, the only South Asian Country in the G20, would take the ideas and proposals covering issues confronting the world before the G20 leadership.

The conference devoted time to discussing pressing economic issues faced by South Asia, such as lack of integration, the debt crisis faced by some countries in South Asia, including Sri Lanka, food and energy security, people-to-people connectivity etc. the Conference noted that South Asia is one of the world’s least integrated regions. In contrast, south East Asia, Europe and the Americas had succeeded. For example, it was observed that intra-regional Trade in South Asia accounts for barely five per cent of the total Trade, in contrast to the nearly 25 per cent in the ASEAN region. The Conference also observed that the debt crisis is taking a heavy toll on the region. In addition to Sri Lanka, which was forced to default on its foreign debt, several other countries in the region will face similar consequences.

Deputy High Commissioner Niluka Kadurugamuwa represented Sri Lanka High Commission. Speaking on the debt crisis and highlighting the proactive role played by India by coming to the assistance of Sri Lanka, he recommended that G20 develop a template to help economically vulnerable countries.