India joins Champions Group of Global Crisis Response Group: MEA

India has joined the Champions Group of the Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG), following an invitation from UN Secretary General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.

The Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) was set up by the UNSG in March 2022 to address urgent and critical global issues pertaining to interlinked crises in food security, energy, and finance and to coordinate a global response.

The GCRG is overseen by the Champions Group composed of the Head of States/Head of Governments of Bangladesh, Barbados, Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, and Senegal.

The decision to join the GCRG reflects India’s increasing global leadership and commitment to addressing contemporary global challenges, the MEA said.

India’s participation will further boost the efforts of the United Nations in finding result-oriented solutions on developmental issues that impact the world, particularly developing countries.

MEA’s Secretary (West) Sanjay Verma has been designated as Sherpa to the GCRG process. A meeting of the Champions is scheduled for July 21, the Ministry said.

It should be noted that the current issues being handled by the GCRG include various aspects under food, energy and finance.

Commodity prices have fallen due to bumper crops in Australia, Canada, Russia, and the US as well as by the optimism brought upon by the signing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative – a fundamental recommendation by GCRG – to reintegrate grains and sunflower oil from Ukraine into global markets and facilitate unimpeded access to food and fertilizers from Russia.

Under the Black Sea Grain Initiative of the GCRG, a newly established Joint Coordination Centre was established to allow for significant volumes of commercial food exports to depart from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, and paved the way for the first shipment to leave the port of Odesa on August 1.

Under energy, the group says that the world needs to double down on renewables to meet net-zero goals, tackle energy poverty, and boost and diversify the global energy mix.

The group further states that inflation rates continue to accelerate in developing and least developing countries due to their levels of income and exposure to global financial shocks.