India will host the 18th G20 Summit in New Delhi this month, where the world’s largest economies will meet to address major issues related to the global economy.
This year, over 40 heads of state and international organisations will attend the summit in the Indian capital, making it the largest meeting of the group.
Preparations are in full swing in Delhi as the city has geared up with street art, murals, traffic arrangements and security measures.
This year, India also held the presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), comprising eight members including China, Russia and Pakistan.
India is a member of some prominent international organisations like G20 and SCO. Here is a list of international groupings and blocs that India is a part of:
World Bank
India’s association with the World Bank goes back to the pre-Independence era when it became a founding member in 1945. In 1949, India was the first Asian country to receive a $34 million loan from the Bank, which was used for a railway project.
India is a member of four of the five constituents of the World Bank Group: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
Moreover, India is one of the founder members of IBRD, IDA and IFC, while the country is not a member of ICSID (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes).
International Monetary Fund
India became a founder member of IMF in December 1945, like the World Bank. New Delhi is not only a founder member, but for some time it was the fifth largest shareholder.
The international body was established along with the World Bank at the Conference of 44 nations held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, US, in July 1944. IMF, with 190 members at present, was created to promote international monetary cooperation, for the balanced growth of international trade, promote exchange stability and to help establish a multilateral system of payments. However, the most important functions of the body is to make loans to countries that are experiencing economic distress to prevent or mitigate financial crises.
The IMF gets its money through quotas and subscriptions from its member countries. The contributions are based on the size of the country’s economy, with the US being the world’s largest contributor.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was founded in Shanghai, China in 2001 by six countries — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The inter-governmental organisation was an extension of the Shanghai Five Group formed on April 26, 1996 with the signing of the treaty on deepening military trust in border regions by all the countries except Uzbekistan.
The group was conceptualized as a counterweight to the influence of the US in Central Asia, some reports say. India was granted observer status in July 2005 and on June 9, 2017, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full-members.
This year, India hosted the virtual summit of the members while the membership of SCO has now expanded to nine.
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was founded in 1966 and India was a founding member of the bank and its fourth largest shareholder. It helps its developing member countries in policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance.
ADB has 68 members and its headquarters is in Manila, Philippines. India holds 6.31 per cent of shares and 5.34 percent voting rights. Japan and the US are the largest shareholders, followed by China and India.
World Trade Organisation
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is an important intergovernmental organisation that deals with international trade and commerce. India has been a member of the WTO since January 1995 and been a member of the WTO’s forerunner General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) since July 1948. Currently, it has 164 members including the European Union and 23 observer countries.
WTO is the only global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.
African Development Bank
African Development Bank (AfDB) is a multilateral development finance institution established in 1964 to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries.
India joined the African Development Bank in 1982 and is a key member of the institution’s 24 Non-Regional Member Countries, which support the African Development Fund (ADF). Currently, the AfDB has 81 members.
BRICS
BRICS, an economic bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, was formed on June 16, 2009. South Africa was added as the fifth member in December 2010.
At the latest BRICS summit in Johannesburg, the present members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — decided to add Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as new members of the grouping.
Currently, the five-member grouping is home to 40 percent of the world’s population which controls 26 percent of the global GDP. But with the six new members (BRICS+6), their GDP share will jump to 30 percent and share of population will go up to 46 percent.
