India versus China is also Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam versus One Belt One Road

Beijing has moved an idea that India’s theme, “One Earth, One Family, One Future”, is actually inspired from China’s “One Belt, One Road”, which is often referred to as the Belt and Road Initiative. So it can be part of the communique. India doesn’t agree to this and has resisted its inclusion in the joint document.

Instead, India wanted Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam to be included in the joint communique, saying that this is part of India’s theme.

But the Sanskrit experts in the Chinese delegation have pointed out that Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam means “the world is a family”, and India’s theme — One Earth, One Family — does capture the meaning in a way. But in India’s theme, there is “One Future” as well, which is not part of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

G20 logo installed at Taj Palace hotel in preparation for the G20 Summit, in New Delhi, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. (PTI Photo)

So Beijing’s Sanskrit experts have said that Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is not synonymous with “One Earth, One Family, One Future” — and, therefore, they cannot allow the phrase to come in the communique.

They have also said that New Delhi, by using the Sanskrit word Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, is setting a precedent, which has not been done by any host country before. Chinese diplomats have said that countries, which have held the Presidency, have not included phrases from their language or culture in the joint document.

Sources said that while the Sherpas — the top negotiators of the G20 countries — meet in Manesar for the next three days to finalise the document, it is unlikely that they will include either One Belt One Road or Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

Nataraja sculpture installed outside Bharat Mandapam

There is some resistance also in including the word MAHARISHI, a millet initiative, which India says is an acronym of Millets and Other Ancient Grains International Research Initiative (MAHARISHI).

Again Beijing’s negotiators — some of them well-versed in Sanskrit and Hindi — have pointed out that Maharishi means “sage” in Sanskrit, and is a roundabout way of including a Sanskrit term in the joint communique.

Sources said that while a consensus to include the word Maharishi was emerging in the G20 agriculture working group meetings, it was fraying at the high-level negotiations where Sherpas and Sous-Sherpas look at every word minutely with a stronger political lens than subject experts in the working groups.