G20 has brought to the forefront the strength of the Indians as a society, a polity and as an economy: Meenakashi Lekhi

Oct 11, 2023

We changed the conversation from women empowerment to women-led development 

New Delhi, 11 October 2023:  Ms Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs and Minister of State for Culture, India said G20 has brought to the forefront the strength of the Indians as a society, a polity and as an economy. Speaking at the 93^rd Annual General Meeting of ICC India, the minister lauded the recently culminated G20 Summit and said that during India’s G20 presidency, we were able to put the East and the West together.

She added that this certainly changed the discourse of many a narratives. “We changed the conversation from women empowerment to women-led development. That, it's not about combining them. It's about embodying society by making their work and that contribute not just to the economy, but also social wellbeing,” added Ms Lekhi.

She further said, “G20 resulted in sending out the message that we, like any democracy or like any polity or society, which has multiple voices within, have the ability to coexist with those multiple voices. And also come up to a problem-solving phenomenon so that everybody can be heard and listen to others and make a music out of it.”

Citing that Global south should not be left out but one which will carry the Global North together, Ms Lekhi asserted, “Global North, if needs to stay together and continue to progress, has to contribute to the economy of the South as well.”

Ms Suneeta Reddy, President, ICC India and Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “India’s G20 Presidency has shown a human-centric approach to reshaping the global economy to be more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable.”

Mr Shailesh Pathak, Secretary General, FICCI and ICC India said, “With our long association with the ICC, we at FICCI would work even more on issues such as contract enforcement & dispute resolution, as also digitally connecting small and medium businesses.”

Mr C K Dhanuka, President-Elect, ICC India in his vote of thanks applauded the outstanding work done by the Minister and the wider team in making the G20 presidency of India an outstanding success by all standards.