The mock summits were intended at youngsters between the ages of 15 and 18, who donned the roles either of a delegate, or representatives of nation or special-interest groups such as China or Greenpeace.
Students of around 50 schools from the country held mock G8 and G20 summits on Monday and Tuesday as part of the International Youth Conference (IYC).
Organised by students of Jamnabai Narsee School, the mock summits had students posing as world leaders and delegates who had to suggest points, proffer amendments and pass resolutions on topics ranging from nuclear anti-ballistic missiles and tackling electronic waste among other issues affecting the globe. The summits followed the Model United Nations procedure.
The mock summits were intended at youngsters between the ages of 15 and 18, who donned the roles either of a delegate, or representatives of nation or special-interest groups such as China or Greenpeace.
“This is the fourth year that we are hosting it. Being a student-driven initiative, it is working truly well. It ignites an interest among the students about international politics and global understanding,” said Sudeshna Chatterjee, principal, JNS.
Acting as the heads of different countries, the students came up with interesting clauses like creation of an anti-ballistic missiles forum that will meet once a year; a proposal to remove half the sanctions imposed on Iran, if it let the authorities conduct a final inspection of its nuclear arms.
The mock summit achieved what the actual G8 summit has never accomplished — passing of a resolution with 100% votes. “We actually got the delegates from US and Iran to agree on a resolution,” said Varun Puri, a student of Sanskriti School, Delhi, who was one of the delegates from UN.
Most of the students who participated in the conference said that they were interested in studying international affairs and as they stepped into the shoes of the world leaders, students felt that they got a chance to experience and internalise the perspectives and the thought process behind policy formulation at an international level.
“While working for this project, we referred to sources like Reuters, papers written by diplomats and studied the policies extensively. Now I feel like a citizen of the world rather than just India,” said Nitika Khaitan, a student who wishes to some day be seated in the G8 held in the UN.
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