G20 Sherpas meet: Delegates discuss upon priority areas identified by presidency on second day

"For the past few years there has been a lot of interest from various countries across the globe for Aadhaar. We have visiting delegations from different countries and some of them do not have a digital ID. Many nations do have some form of digital ID and so in many cases it is also an exchange of ideas to find out what works where. In fact one of the sustainable development goals is to have legal identity for all, so globally and G20 being an important institution in that sense we will all work towards that,” Garg said.

Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM believes that there needs to be guardrail on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). She added that pace of AI evolution and ethics of AI need to match.

"The pace of artificial intelligence (AI) evolution is happening way faster than pace of us thinking through what should be the ethics of AI and that is dangerous. So these two have to now match-up, they have to move together. I am not a fan of saying stop everything, but we need to think through it. So we need to speed up the thought process, the discussions the deliberations on ethical use of AI, responsible use of AI. So we have to putdown guardrails and it cannot be just government regulating industry, this has to be industry and government coming together to figure out what is the right way, what are the design principles that we need to build to ensure that every innovation is secure," Ghosh said.

According to Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO of NPCI, interoperability of PPIs is a big boon for consumers and merchants.

"The RBI while it started UPI with complete interoperability as a first principle, it has now also permitted PPIs also to be interoperable. RBI does not want to closed loop payment system. If you look at it from a consumer standpoint, as a consumer having a Paytm wallet or the Amazon Pay wallet, they should not be forced to look at only Paytm QR code or Amazon QR code, they should be able to scan any QR code and make the payments. So these interoperability guidelines of the RBI is a big boon for the customers and the merchants," Asbe said.

The Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan inaugurated the formal proceedings of the second day of the meeting. Addressing the delegates, Muraleedharan said that the Indian Presidency’s theme, "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" or "One Earth One Family One Future" has found resonance across the world, because of its all encompassing, inclusive message, capturing the diverse global challenges of the day.

He appreciated the support extended by all G20 countries, guest countries and international organisations to the Indian presidency for the successful conclusion of 46 G20 meetings so far in 27 different cities around the country.

Interventions by countries also clearly highlighted the need for women’s empowerment and women’s leadership at the center for development. Delegates also emphasised the importance of accelerated efforts to return to a path of resilient growth and recovery which also takes everyone along.

Besides, the Sherpas took stock of the progress made in the various G20 Sherpa track working groups of Digital Economy, Health, Education, Tourism, Culture, Agriculture, Trade & Investment, Employment and Anti-Corruption.

The Sherpas also commented on the various proposed actionable deliverables as well as suggested the way forward on important deliberations being held in these working groups such as digital public infrastructure, data for development food security, digital health and pandemic preparedness, prevention and response, tech-enabled education, global skill mapping, etc.

G20 Sherpas also participated in 'Kayal conversations' where they discussed in an informal setting ways to take forward the agenda of G20 and deepen cooperation and understanding on shared concerns.

The Indian G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant also held productive bilateral discussions with his counterparts throughout the day.

The meeting which kickstarted on Thursday, March 30, will conclude on April 2. It is chaired by Indian G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant. Over 120 delegates from G20 Members, 9 invitee countries, and various international and regional organisations are participating in the meeting.

The first formal day of meetings concluded with ‘Charchayum Aharavum’, a cultural evening and dinner. It was attended by the Kerala Governor, Arif Mohammad Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with the Chief Secretary V.P Joy. The delegates also witnessed a spectacular rendition of ‘Oathirum Mohitham’, a play based on the vadakkan pattu (traditional ballads of Kerala) and various dance-forms providing them a glimpse into the rich heritage of Kerala, the ministry said.