India Hands Over G20 Presidency To Brazil

India formally handed over the G20 presidency to Brazil at the closing ceremony of the annual summit of the grouping, that was held in New Delhi this weekend. India Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed the transition by handing over the ceremonial gavel of the presidency to Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. India has had the presidency of the G20 since Dec. 1, when it took over from Indonesia, and will continue to hold the position until Nov. 30. During the two-day summit, the bloc adopted a consensus declaration that made commitments on several issues, including food and energy security, climate change, and global debt vulnerabilities. Modi, on Sunday, also proposed a “virtual summit” of the grouping at the end of November to assess the status of the suggestions and proposals put forth by members and determine “how their progress can be accelerated”. “In that session, we can review the topics decided during this summit,” Modi said, adding that details would be shared with members.

Tinubu attending G20 Summit in India to attract FDI – Presidency

President Bola Tinubu is attending the G20 Summit holding from September 9-10 in New Delhi, India to attract private capital for the development of the nation’s critical infrastructure, the Presidency has said. Mr. Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, who disclosed this at the weekend, said the summit was predicated on the urgent need to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the country. The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. It plays an important role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues. Ngelale said that the president would focus attention on meetings with business executives of the world’s most valuable companies to discuss investment in the critical sectors of the economy for the creation of employment. “We are focused on engagements that will be dealing with critical sectors of the national economy, involving steel development, electricity generation, transmission and distribution, shipyard building capacity, and several other industries, which we know to be labour intensive. “Mr President will be hosting a CEO roundtable, which will be made up of more than 20 chief executive officers of major industries across multiple sectors of the Indian economy to ensure that we leverage on their interest in investing in the country. “In addition, there will be at least five meetings with the CEOs of five major industries in India, including Jindal Steel and Power Company, among a few others that would have a very important impact on our ability to develop the steel sector in our country,’’ Ngelale said. He said that Tinubu would also meet with the President of Brazil, President da Silva, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and a few other heads of state on the sidelines of the G20. “The G20 is a major event for our country at this time and we are going to ensure that we take maximum advantage of the opportunities presented to bring value to the country. “To create jobs for our people and ultimately, to generate and expand existing revenues in the country to ensure the government can effectively fund and sponsor its programmes and policies across sectors. “When we arrive in India next week, there will be live updates from India, which I will be providing daily to ensure that Nigerians have full access into what our President is doing on their behalf,’’ he said.

Much ado about BRIC as threat to America’s global economic dominance

No question, powers rise and fall. It is the immutable law of nature and of geopolitics. The US has dominated the globe both in the economic, military and geopolitical spheres for over half a century and beyond, frankly since the end of the Second World War. Hence, this is often described as the US century.  So, it is natural for any nation that has been on top for such a long time to expect emerging powers to challenge it.  So, the ongoing realignment of the globe’s economic and geopolitical power structure is to be expected. However, any boxer who has faced a dominant, undefeated super heavyweight champion of the world knows it is much easier to talk about dethroning him than actually doing it.  So, when you see and hear all the hyperventilation about the decline of the US and how its dethronement is imminent, take it with more than a pinch of salt.  The US is not sitting on its rear end waiting for someone to walk up and take the championship belt from it. Whoever wants the crown would have to do better that the iconic Zaire Kinshasa rumble in the jungle bout to get it. So, when you see a half-baked, amateurish, voice-over, outlandish, really hogwash of a video reporting China suspending all trade with the U.S., you need to put your thinking cap on.  It is so outlandish and an obvious no-brainer hogwash, that it is so shocking that anyone will share that video.  Anyway, no surprises here. Almost anything, including the master of all absurdities, gets shared on Nigerian social media, including a platform like the “Great Minds” populated by the cream de la cream of Nigerian intellectuals and movers and shakers of society.  We have already entered the phase of the diminution and override of the human neural cells by AI.  We are so bombarded with information overkill to the point that we are slowly losing our ability to conduct nuance and critical analysis of information. Otherwise, why would anyone share a video that announced with fanfare and so authoritatively that China has officially cut off all trade with the US!!!? For China to do that will be akin to a man cutting off his trachea to stop the passage of inspired and expired air into and out his lungs. Does that even pass the laugh test?  Yet people are mindlessly sharing that video on Nigeria social media predicting a global economic earthquake.  China is an export dependent economy while the U.S. is a consumption-based economy (the consumer confidence index is a great indicator of US’s economic health). China economy will crumble like a house of cards without demand from the West, especially the U.S. for its manufactured goods. Yes, the exploding Chinese middle class and super rich is changing its economy to a more mature consumption and service driven economy, but it still depends on exports for its sustenance.  So, this ridiculous post about China suspending trade with US and how BRIC is a threat to a dollarized global economy in the near term, reveals an abject misreading and lack of knowledge of how the global economy operates.  While China and Russia might want to use BRIC as a counterbalance and in fact, anti-U.S. body in their geopolitical struggle with the U.S., India and Brazil have a different objective. Brazil is in the orbit of the North and South America economic zone.  India is trying to decouple its military from its reliance on Russia for her military equipment.  Who would blame them after what the world has now seen about the incompetence weakness of Russia’s military industrial capacity and its military?  Russia’s overblown and oversold military is depending on Iran made drones and missile from North Korea in its disastrous war against Ukraine. India is a rising global power. It just landed its spacecraft on the moon, the first country to do so on the more challenging moon’s southern hemisphere. Juxtapose that against Russia’s space mission to the moon which just failed spectacularly.  Global policy analysis requires nuanced and critical analysis than simply sharing alarmist, half baked propaganda of an economic earthquake.  The US, because of the dynamism of its economy, and its leadership as the innovation heartbeats of the globe’s economy, will continue to remain a major, albeit diminished force in the globe economy as new power centres emerge.  India is the country to watch. It also has territorial dispute with China. The Indian diaspora is also deeply entrenched and connected to the U.S. with high profile Indians in both the political and more so in the economic domain. Anyone who is hoping India will align with China or Russia in opposition to the West should look at who is the current occupant of No 10 Downing Street, the residence of the UK Prime Minister.  In case we have forgotten, Rishi Sunak is a full-blooded British-Indian. About the Author: A current affairs analyst, Prof. Wale Alonge is a university Don and Head, Africa-Diaspora Partnership for Empowerment and Development (ADPED) based in Miami, Florida.

Nigeria, India partner to block illicit drug flow

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Narcotics Control Bureau of India have agreed to collaborate to block the traffic of illicit drugs between Nigeria and India. The Director Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said in a statement that the two agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Wednesday in Abuja. He said the Chairman of NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, who signed the MoU on behalf of the agency, said the move represented a robust partnership in efforts to exterminate incidences of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the two countries. He said, “this bold step taken by the two agencies is an affirmation of our foresight and commitment to the task of ensuring the safety of our citizens and the global community at large.” According to him, the MOU constitutes a fundamental step towards positioning the two countries, India and Nigeria, at the forefront of confronting and dismantling transnational drug trafficking networks. “This is with brazen capabilities of outmaneuvering legitimate drug law enforcement. “With our understanding of the changing dynamics of the illicit drug problems, locally and globally, every major organisation around the world is working assiduously to curb the menace. “They also know that working with partners greatly helps in addressing the trafficking and abuse of narcotic and psychotropic substances,” he said. Marwa said the governments of both countries remained committed to eradicating the problem posed by illicit substances, notably synthetic opioids and Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) which posed a potent threat to our citizens. He acknowledged the courage exhibited by the two agencies in the course of past meetings that culminated in the MoU. The NDLEA boss stressed that the partnership would impact greatly on efforts to prevent illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, precursor chemicals and related matters between the two countries. The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria and Head of the Indian delegation, Ambassador Shri Balasubramanian, signed on behalf of his country. Balasubramanian said the negative impact of drugs on global financial and political systems was enormous, and that proceeds of drug trafficking were often directed towards terrorism financing. The Indian high commissioner observed that drug trafficking did not only affect the health of the individual that consumed it but equally the economy of the country as well as national security. He advised that both countries should take advantage of their similar demographic advantage to address substance use problems. He added that the liberal trade relations and educational advantages enjoyed by both countries had been negatively applied to further criminal drug trade. “I urge that all hands must be on deck to ensure that merchants of death do not succeed in their evil trade,” he said. Balasubramanian pledged the commitment of the Indian government to ensure the enforcement of the provisions of the MoU.