“One Earth, One Family, One Future”: Unpacking the Theme of India’s G20 Presidency and Its Wide-Ranging Implications

As part of its G20 Presidency, India has developed an important overarching theme, which it summarises as “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. This chapter unpacks the concept that serves as the inspiration for this theme. It highlights the depth of meaning contained in the concept, as well as its far-reaching philosophical and political implications. Drawn from India’s ancient texts, the concept is radical in the scale of its inclusion and the scope that it offers for individual agency. It allows us to include, but also move beyond notions of “human development” and “community development”. Self-styled “realists” who regard the motto as emblematic of the sweet nothings of idealism would be well-served to think again: delve into the concept, and it suggests important ways to uphold hard interests, while also reminding us of the importance of values. But the devil lies in the details of implementation, and the move from rhetoric to practice is seldom easy. This chapter develops ways in which India’s pioneering idea can be implemented—domestically and globally, in the course of future G20 meetings, and indeed in other forums of global governance too.