NEW CONCEPT

 

 

 

 

THE persistent demands for reforming the institutions of global importance accompanied by the rise of the global south and expansion of smaller blocks into new ones have opened up a debate globally on what this phenomenon is about. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has recently used the word that describes this phenomenon -- Re-globalisation. He has also mentioned about India’s stand in favour of ‘diversified re-globalisation’ in the past few days. His statements are in consonance with the global discourse on globalisation. The process of globalisation was initiated and executed as per own ideas by powerful countries of the world. It took years for globalisation to be visible through various institutions, which became tools for bringing about reforms in countries of the world, and then for the concept to penetrate to the societies. In India too, the process of economic reforms was ushered in with focus on liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation. However, in the past few years, the world has woken up to the not-so-good impacts of this ‘elite globalisation’. For, globalisation benefited the elitist forces in the global order more than others. Hence, in several countries, with India being no exception, a mix of old and new domestic wisdom from policy-making and economic reforms started coming into play. With rise of nationalism in many countries began the talk of de-globalisation.

 

With passage of a few more years, and especially in the post-pandemic world, now countries with renewed confidence and systemic consolidation within have started asserting themselves. This has led to many bilateralisms and multilateralism. Also, the world has started moving away from the concept of bipolarity, and discussion has started around the idea of a multipolar world. The long-awaited aspiration of the global south -- of reshaping the world order with more number of stakeholders making positive contributions -- forms the core. Such a reshaping of the world order has several ingredients that together form the gist of the process that is being viewed as re-globalisation. These ingredients include refining the existing processes, reframing of the narratives so that they are not centred around global elites, reforming the institutions like the United Nations Security Council etc, redefining global priorities with more inclusive frameworks, and reshaping the world order on that bases.

 

The role of India has been very important in all this process all through. For, India has not only provided to the world an altogether different economic model under which a country that was perceived as a world market started but also consolidated herself into one of the major manufacturing hubs. While pursuing the economic reforms with a fine blend of old wisdom and modern practices, India has not shun the path of welfarism as was seen during COVID-19 pandemic when the global elites were struggling to feed even the car-owners. Vaccine was made available to all. While undertaking systemic reforms within, India also positioned herself as a leading voice of the global south. She also placed the global good as guiding principle even while pursuing the agenda of multilateralism. The idea of ‘One World, One Family, One Future’ as the guiding theme of India’s G20 Presidency has come out of that commitment to global good. Now, it is time for the next level of thinking of re-globalisation not only from the perspective of world order alone but also from the perspective of making the global decision-making more diversified. It may mean clash of ideas and ideologies too. For, change in any order is not achieved without rumbling. But, India’s commitment to larger good, will indeed win her support of nations that are on the cusp of finding their place in re-globalisation.