2025 reset cooperation priorities

FfD4, COP30, and the G20 were opportunities for India to show its prowess for multilateral negotiations, while rejuvenating its domestic stance on tax policy

- MUKESH BUTANI PRANOY GOSWAMI Respectively Managing Partner and Senior Associate, Tax Policy, BMR Legal

IN AN INCREASINGLY splintered world mired in geopolitical uncertainties, 2025 was a defining year to synchronise and reset international priorities on cooperation.

The flavour of multilateralism notwithstanding, three events in 2025 emerged as beacons of hope for a cohesive and forward-looking global order. The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Brazil, and the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, were not just diplomatic events; they were arenas where the Global South could seek better terms in its negotiations with the rest of the world. These agglomerations are reminiscent of the increasingly urgent power an emerging, priority jurisdiction like India holds: a drive to foster negotiations across the domains of tax and macroeconomics to introduce systemic, meaningful change.