G20 Summit, India is set to welcome many world leaders to the G20 summit in Delhi barring two Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping their non-attendance could complicate efforts at arriving at a joint communique at a summit where divisions over the Ukraine war will loom large.
Looking at the last summit in November 2022 which was held in Bali there was a high drama at the opening ceremony and this was a dramatic event with the war in Ukraine dividing the world. The host Indonesia`s President Joko Widodo made a powerful appeal to “ stop the war” The diplomacy was intense President Joe Biden and Xi jinping met for the first time in years and against all the odds the summit achieved full communique with strong wording on the war and with that it was India`s turn.
Since then the war has kept ranging on that the world has got even more divided leaving India with the Massive diplomatic challenge of getting the G2o to come together this time around.
China boycott G20 Summit
G20 Summit According to an Indian person “The challenge is to discuss with all 20 players and finally agree, everybody has a veto power and that`s what makes the job very challenging so India will do its best”.
This is meant to be India`s moment in the sun chairing the G20 for the first time, it positioned itself as the voice of the global South and standing up for issues that matter to the developing world. 6 of the 12 fastest-growing countries in the world today are from Africa so the Indian prime minister has pushed for the African Union to become a permanent member of
China boycotted G20, The geopolitical division still overshadows all of this President Xi jinping is not even showing up. The Chinese President’s decision not to come to Delhi is being seen as a real snub to India and as a risk to the chances of a breakthrough in Ukraine.
The pressure on Indian Prime Minister Modi and his negotiating team is intense. According to an Indian spoke person “The Ukraine issue may be important to some parts of the world but it is not an important issue for many other countries all the developing for all of us We have not created the Ukraine war. More he said let us not bring one issue of a war which is going for one and half years in Europe center stage on every other issue of the world”.
You can see the realist point of view very clearly on the Indian side and it shows the real frustration that India is stuck in the middle of a Crisis.
Here is the question arises what is India looking to achieve at this G20 summit?
According to an Indian spoke person “ India wants to overcome on major issues secondly showcasing of India quite clearly that`s been on for the entire year or so that India`s been chairperson and thirdly greater inclusiveness in the proceeding in the years ahead. All in all is a development agenda. India also hopes that India it will be successful in creating consensus in many areas, particularly concerning our developmental issues probably climate change, etc.
Challenges for India
The origin of the G20 is economic going back to the 2008 financial crisis so if there is consensus on a largely economic financial agenda but of course, the Ukraine war and the geopolitics surrounding that`s the real challenge for consensus statement and a joint statement ahead all the sign indicate that this will very difficult and it will have a great impact on the geopolitics of the world.
