New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20) at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi on Friday.
The summit is hosted by the Parliament of India under the broader framework of India’s G20 Presidency with the theme ‘Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future.’
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister welcomed the dignitaries to the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit on behalf of 140 crore citizens of India. “The Summit is a ‘Maha Kumbh’ of all Parliamentary practices from across the globe”, the Prime Minister remarked. Underlining that all the delegates present today hold the experience of the Parliamentary framework from different countries, Shri Modi expressed great satisfaction with today’s event.
Addressing the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit. It is a unique confluence of various parliamentary practices from around the world. https://t.co/D9uFvqFiKh
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 13, 2023
Referring to the festive season in India, the Prime Minister said that G20 kept the festive enthusiasm going throughout the year as G20 festivities pervaded many cities where G20-related events were organized during India’s presidency. Events like the moon landing of Chandrayaan, a successful G20 and P20 summit augmented these festivities. “The biggest strength of any nation is its people and their willpower, and this summit is a medium to celebrate that,” he said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the P20 Summit is taking place on the land, which is not only known as the mother of democracy but is also the largest democracy in the world. As representatives of different Parliaments worldwide, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of debates and deliberations as he mentioned accurate examples of such discussions from history. He informed that assemblies and committees had found a mention in the five-thousand-year-old Vedas and scriptures of India, where collective decisions were made for the betterment of society. Speaking about Rigveda, India’s oldest scripture, the Prime Minister recited a Sanskrit shloka, which means ‘We must walk together, speak together and that our minds must be conjoined’. He informed that issues related to the village level were resolved by indulging in debates, which became a source of great amazement for the Greek ambassador Megasthenes, who wrote about it in great detail. The Prime Minister also touched upon a 9th-century inscription in Tamil Nadu, which elaborates upon rules and codes of village legislation.
The Prime Minister touched upon the constant evolution of and strengthening of the parliamentary traditions of India with time. He said 17 General elections and more than 300 state assembly elections have occurred in India since Independence. People’s participation is consistently increasing in this largest electoral exercise. The 2019 election witnessed the record involvement of women.
Regarding the expanding canvas of political participation, the Prime Minister said that more than 600 political parties participated in the last General Election, 10 million government employees worked in the elections, and 1 million polling stations were erected for voting.
The Prime Minister also dwelled on the modernization of the election process. The use of EVMs over the last 25 years has brought transparency and efficiency to the election process, as election results come within hours of the start of counting. He informed that 1 billion people will participate in the general election next year and invited the delegates to witness the polls.
The Prime Minister informed the delegates about the recent decision to reserve 33 percent of seats in the Parliament and the state assemblies for women. He also told them that out of more than 3 million elected representatives in the local self-government institutions, almost 50 percent are women.
The PM highlighted the citizens’ unwavering faith in India’s parliamentary traditions and credited its diversity and vibrancy. He informed that India has more than 900 TV channels in 28 languages to provide real-time information to the people, more than 33 thousand different newspapers are published in about 200 languages, and about 3 billion users on various social media platforms. He emphasized the vast flow of information and the freedom of speech in India.
Referring to the interconnected nature of the world, the Prime Minister said that a world full of conflict and confrontation is in no one’s interest. A divided world cannot solve humanity’s significant challenges. This is the time of peace and brotherhood, a time to move together. This is a time for growth and well-being of all. We must overcome the global trust crisis and move forward with human-centric thinking. We must look at the world in the spirit of One Earth, One Family, One Future.”
Underlining the importance of broader participation in global decision-making, the Prime Minister said it was behind the proposal to include the African Union in G-20, which all the members accepted. He expressed happiness over the Pan Africa participation in the forum of P20.
The Prime Minister took the opportunity to highlight the cross-border terrorism faced by India for decades, killing thousands of innocent people. He recalled the terrorist attack on the Parliament of India about 20 years ago when it was in session, and the terrorists were prepared to take the MPs hostage and eliminate them.
The Prime Minister also drew attention to the global aspect, where no consensus regarding the definition of terrorism is achieved. He underlined how the International Convention on Combating Terrorism is waiting for peace in the United Nations even today. He stressed that the enemies of humanity are taking advantage of this attitude of the world as he urged the Parliaments and representatives worldwide to come up with ways of working together in this fight against terrorism.
Concluding the address, the Prime Minister underlined that there can be no better medium than public participation to deal with the world’s challenges. “I have always believed that governments are formed by majority, but the country is run by consensus. Our parliaments and this P20 forum can also strengthen this sentiment”, the Prime Minister said and expressed confidence that the efforts to improve this world through debate and deliberations will be successful.
Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shri Om Birla, and President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Mr Duarte Pacheco, were present on the occasion, among others.
In line with the theme of India’s G20 Presidency, the theme of the 9th P20 Summit is ‘Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future’. Speakers of Parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries attended the event. The Pan-African Parliament also took part in the P20 Summit for the first time after the African Union became a member of G20 at the New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Summit on 9-10 September 2023.
The thematic sessions during this P20 Summit will focus on the following four subjects – Transformation in People’s Lives through Public Digital Platforms, Women-led development, Accelerating SDGs, and Sustainable Energy Transition.
A pre-summit Parliamentary Forum on LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) was also held on 12 October 2023 to deliberate upon initiatives towards a greener and sustainable future in harmony with nature.
