Daily Special Current Affairs Material for IAS (Pre) 2013 – Topic: “India, G 20 and The World (Part -2)”

Chapter: Government Plans Programme &
Policies

Topic: INDIA, G 20 AND THE WORLD (PART
-2)

Despite broadening of the elite group G-8 to include emerging
economies, the exclusivity of the G20 is questioned by some as it permanently
excludes 173 countries. With no representation of low income economies and
significant under representation of Africa (South Africa is the only African
member country), the representational legitimacy is also questioned. Allegations
of ‘plurilateralism of the big’, by which the vast majority of nations lose
voice and influence on matters that affect them crucially, is also levelled
against the group along with the charges of undermining the existing system of
multilateral cooperation in institutions such as IMF, the World Bank and the UN.

However, responding to the charges of representational
legitimacy, G20 has invited ‘representatives’ from underrepresented regions –
such as Vietnam for ASEAN and Ethiopia and Malawi for the African Union – to
participate as ad hoc ‘observers’ in G20summits, though the same is contested as
‘concessions at the margins’. Some of the inclusions like Argentina etc have
been contested by many. Any measure like GDP or Population for membership would
result in exclusion of Argentina, Saudi Arabia & South Africa. Netherlands,
Spain, Poland may be included in case GDP is used as criterion and countries
like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Phillipines etc may be preferred in case population
is given primacy for inclusion. Further, inclusion of EU while leaving aside
other regional formations is also debated.

India, G-20 & World a comparative picture (2012)

1. Population Divergences in opinion exist with respect to
   whether the GDP and population of all EU countries should be included in the
   calculation of G20 shares of the global economy or not. The populations of
   nineteen countries are represented directly through their own national
   representatives, whereas the populations of 27 EU countries are
   ‘represented’ indirectly through the EU seat. Excluding the EU, G20
   comprises about 62 per cent of world population against the figures of two
   thirds used frequently which includes EU. Out of this, only about 12.6 per
   cent share is contributed by G-8 countries. India alone accounts for about
   17 per cent of world population (only behind China with share of 19 per
   cent), much more than G-8 countries put together. In terms of population
   density, India stands second, behind South Korea (high density) with number
   of people living per square km, in case of India, being more than twenty
   five times of world average.The significance of population of some G-20
   countries like India and China is likely to continue in future though the
   growth rate has already decreased significantly in China and is slowing down
   in case of India too. Population structure will continue to be favourable in
   case of India. In case of OECD countries, a growing North American working
   age population is not enough to offset declines in other OECD nations.
   Africa’s population will grow the most of any region – adding nearly 800
   million people by 2040.

2. Economy G20 countries, excluding EU, accounted for 77 per
   cent of world GDP during 2012 and their share increases to 90 per cent on
   inclusion of EU. In the total share of 77 per cent, G-8 countries accounted
   for about 49 per cent, rest 28 per cent being contributed by eleven other
   member countries, with 12 percent by China alone. Share of India in the
   world GDP is about 3 per cent. The Indian economy is one of the fastest
   growing economies in the world and in terms of purchasing power parity
   (PPP), it ranks third largest in the world, after the United States and
   China. In terms of PPP it has moved up by one rank during 2012 (ahead of
   Japan) from its fourth position during 2011. In terms of per capita GDP,
   Mexico, South Africa, India and Indonesia rank lower than the world average.
   India, despite of improvement over the years, is still at the bottom in G20
   group with per capita GDP of 1592 USD, about one tenth of the world average
   of 10157 (USD).G-7 countries rank significantly higher (at the top of G 20
   spectrum ).

3. World Trade :. G-20 countries, including EU, account for
   nearly 80 per cent or world trade (sixty per cent if EU is excluded ) that
   has been increasing rapidly with moreand more economies integrating
   themselves.International trade grew at an compoundannual growth rate of 12.2
   per cent during 2000-08 with more than 20 per cent CAGR in case of G20
   countries like China, India and Russia. After a decline in 2009 due to
   global economic crisis, the global trade recovered in 2010 & mid 2011
   witnessing annual growth rates of more than twenty percent.During 2000-2010,
   share of China in the world trade has increased by 6.5 percent, Russia by 1
   percent, India by 0.8 per cent and Brazil by 0.5 per cent. India’s share in
   world merchandise exports had started rising fast since 2004, reaching 1.3
   percent in 2009 and 1.5 percent in 2010. It increased to 1.9 percent in the
   first half of 2011, mainly due to relatively higher Indian export growth of
   55 percent compared to the 23.1 percent export growth of world.

4. Human Development Index (HDI) Human development
   indicators like HDI have become increasingly popular as it is increasingly
   being felt that much more than economic development is required for a
   sustainable society. Social dimensions like literacy, access to public
   health etc matter in the long run not only because they enable better
   participation in the economy but also because they addressed issues
   essential for human well being. Human development concerns have become as
   critical as the GDP concerns, if not more. A comparison of Human Development
   Index (HDI) reports of India, G-20 countries & the world reveals that much
   remains to be accomplished in case of India which is ranked lowest (134th
   rank) in the G 20 Group while four G20 countries (Australia 2nd, US 4th,
   Canada 6th & Germany 9th ) feature in list of top ten countries in the
   world, with Japan at close 12th rank.

Performance of India in terms of HDI has been continuously improving but its
trajectory is still similar to that of south Asian economies, much below the
medium human development or the overall performance of the world. Although India
has improved in the income index, it lags behind the neighbouring countries like
Bangladesh and Pakistan in education and healthcare. Between 1980 and 2010
India’s HDI rose by 1.6% annually from 0.320 to 0.547 today.

Amongst the three dimensions of the HDI,India performs best in health
followed by income with education index being merely 0.45 compared to overall
HDI (0.547 ) for India. Life expectancy in case of India (65.4years) is close to
the world average (69.8 years) whereas the same is more than 80 years in case of
six G-20 countries.Maternal mortality rate in case of India (230), though more
than world average (176), is significantly lower than that of Soth Africa (410)
and slightly better than Indonesia (240).In case of Japan, Italy, Germany,France
& Australia, MMR is less than 10. India’s position for schooling is worst among
G20 Countries. Expected years of schooling in India is 10.3, lower than world
average (11.3). The mean year of schooling is 4.4, which is much lower than
world average (7.4). Population with at least Secondary Education is 26.6, much
lower than World average.

In the Gender Inequality Index, India is at a poor 134nd position; Bangladesh
and Pakistan are ranked at 146th and 145th positions, respectively, indicating
that India is better in gender equality than these nations.
References :

• The Emerging Countries And China In The G20: Reshaping Global Economic
  Governance, Gregory Chin Studia Diplomatica Vol. LXIII, 2010, N
• Rising Economic Powers And The Global Economy: Trends And Issues For
  Congress- Raymond J. Ahearn
• The G20 And Beyond- Towards Effective Global Economic Governance Jakob
  Vestergaard DIIS Report 2011: 04

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