New Delhi/Johannesburg , 22 November (H.S.): Addressing Session 1 of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated President Cyril Ramaphosa for South Africa’s stewardship and opened with a call to align growth with nature, speaking at the Johannesburg gathering on Saturday. He noted that this is the first G20 Summit to be hosted in Africa and that South Africa’s presidency has advanced the theme of “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability,” building on the outcomes from India and Rio de Janeiro.

Setting out a values-led framework, the Prime Minister urged a rethink of development metrics that have excluded large populations and encouraged ecological overuse, proposing Integral Humanism as a guiding ethos that sees humans, society, and nature as a single, integrated whole.

Citing communities that sustain eco-balanced ways of life, he proposed a Global Traditional Knowledge Repository under the G20, building on India’s Indian Knowledge Systems initiative to preserve and transmit collective wisdom.

Placing Africa’s youth at the forefront, he proposed a G20–Africa Skills Multiplier initiative using a “train-the-trainers” model backed by G20 partners, with a collective target of one million certified trainers in Africa over the next decade to create a cascading skills pipeline.

The Prime Minister said the initiative would build local capacity and generate a multiplier effect across sectors critical to long-term development.

Stressing preparedness for crises, he called for a G20 Global Healthcare Response Team—comprising trained medical experts from G20 countries—for rapid deployment during health emergencies and natural disasters. He also urged intensified global action against drug trafficking, warning about lethal synthetics such as fentanyl, and proposed a G20 Initiative on Countering the Drug–Terror Nexus to bring financial, governance, and security instruments together to disrupt illicit networks.

Reaffirming India–Africa solidarity, the Prime Minister recalled that the African Union became a permanent G20 member during India’s 2023 presidency in New Delhi and said the Global South’s voice must carry across all global institutions. He is on a three-day visit to South Africa from November 21–23 to attend the 20th Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg under South Africa’s presidency, with planned engagements including the 6th IBSA Summit on the sidelines and an interaction with the Indian diaspora.

Under South Africa’s presidency, priority tracks have also emphasized skilled migration, tourism, food security, AI, the digital economy, innovation, and women’s empowerment.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar