In many multilateral organizations, including the UN Security Council, leadership is handed down in alphabetical order. By this method at least sometimes everything fits together—the right country, chief, place, time, and all. Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assuming the chairmanship of the G20 summit is a good example of this convergence.
Even before assuming the chairmanship, Modi and the Indian delegation played a major role in the declaration of the Bali summit. Many of the ideas included in the Bali Declaration are things that the Indian leadership has shared on many occasions. There is a reason for this. India was the country that always took a neutral stand on the issue that was discussed most seriously at the summit held in Bali.
At the Bali summit, everyone called for an end to hostilities and to promote peace talks. This is the view followed by India from the beginning. Russia’s foreign minister was largely left out of the summit, which was not attended by President Putin. He has become the man to take the blame diplomatically after days of developments in Ukraine, particularly after the Russian troop withdrawal from Kherson.
With its assumption of the presidency of the G20 summit, India will now be at the center of global efforts to avoid wars. We can help mediate between countries as well. Even the United States and NATO will expect India’s help in peace talks. But this is a risky route. If not handled with care, responsibility for any failure must be taken. China, which is always wary of India’s moves, will surely continue to try to destroy any advantage that our country gets at the international level. In short, India, the self-proclaimed “Great Guru” has begun a series of ordeals in taking up this not-so-easy task.
It can be said that Xi Jinping won the victory in Bali. Xi Jinping returned to the international scene with the glory of a lifelong leader. The Bali summit was chosen by Xi to end his three-year, self-proclaimed seclusion following the pandemic. All the world leaders took special care to talk to the Chinese president and take photos together. Despite protests against human rights abuses in China and tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the pleasant atmosphere created by Xi Jinping’s talks with US President Joe Biden lasted until the end of the summit. However, the leaders were also able to directly convey the problems and grievances of their own countries to the Chinese President.
Anthony Albanese, the first Australian prime minister to meet with Xi since 2016, described the talks as “positive and constructive”. During the conversation, Albanese also managed to highlight the detention of Australian citizens and human rights abuses faced by the Uyghur community in Xinjiang.
French President Emmanuel Macron asked Xi Jinping to push Putin to hold peace talks to end the war in Ukraine. Macron also said he would be interested in visiting China next year, if Covid restrictions allow. The first meeting between Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was held in Bali. Xi also did not hesitate to publicly reprimand Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for leaking details of the conversation to the media. The Chinese leader rejected Trudeau’s offer to renegotiate. Xi Jinping replied that the situation should be favorable for further dialogue.
Geopolitics was the main topic of the summit. But Indonesia’s delegates wanted more discussion of food and energy security and climate challenges.
The main event of the first day was the meeting between Xi Jinping and Biden. On the second day, the summit was like a special meeting of the G7 summit. The leaders gathered to discuss the news that two people were killed by a Russian missile on the Poland-Ukraine border. The Russian representative was relieved when he finally learned that it was a missile from a Ukrainian weapons factory.
The joint declaration in Bali condemned Russia’s military action. The announcement also recalled Russia’s veto of a UN Security Council resolution demanding Russia’s military withdrawal from Ukraine.
“The majority of countries strongly condemn the war in Ukraine, which is causing great human suffering and exacerbating the existing vulnerabilities of the global economy,” the declaration stressed – stunting development, fueling inflation, affecting global supply chains, energy and food security, and posing a challenge to financial stability. There were different opinions and analyzes about the current conditions and permissions. Knowing that the G20 is not a forum to discuss security issues, we make the announcement that security issues will have a heavy impact on the global economy.”
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This is all G20 leaders have said about the climate crisis – they will take steps to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius and step up efforts to phase out coal use.
This time there was no ‘family photo’ which is a part of the summit. World leaders were put off by the unease created by Russia’s presence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing the summit via video conference while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was sitting, referred to the ‘G20’ as the ‘G19’, excluding Russia. Even India and China, which abstained from several resolutions condemning Russia, did not try to moderate the criticism against Russia.
Biden’s first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled the beginning of a ‘reset’ of relations between the two superpowers. Biden managed to defuse tensions at the regional level by saying he had no reason to believe China was likely to attack Taiwan. However, Biden did not hesitate to criticize China’s recent provocative military exercises in Taiwan. At the same time, Biden also took care to appease Jinxing by pointing out that Washington has not backed away from its ‘one China’ policy. China’s official statement said, “This deep and open dialogue was very constructive.” China also said that officials from the two countries will work together to further improve areas of mutual understanding. This is a huge step forward compared to the hate generated in previous months.
Rishi Sunak’s debut at the diplomatic level was an average success. Especially considering the ongoing problems in his own country. Sunakin’s words condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his look at Lavrov may have created a positive reaction in Kiev. Sunak’s scheduled meeting with Xi Jinping was canceled due to time constraints, but the British prime minister’s interest in meeting the Chinese leader made one thing clear – Sunak’s policy is a far cry from his predecessor’s tough stance on Beijing, and the “hardly non-confrontational style” that followed the summit is the same Sunak has adopted in his approach to China, the world’s second-largest economy. .
Much of the 52-paragraph summit declaration is devoted to explaining global problems and their solutions. But all of them are nothing more than declarations of duty. It is clear that the end of the war is a precondition for the world to move on after the pandemic and the war-induced disruptions in the global economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar are busy with the entire government machinery. We are trying to make full use of the opportunity given to us by chairing the G20 summit by preparing a year full of conferences and shows. This will be very useful for BJP in 2024 elections. But if the war continues and the global economy collapses, India will be held responsible to some extent. China will continue its moves without the burden of leading the summit.
This is a great opportunity for India and 2023 is a big challenge.
Last Updated Nov 22, 2022, 10:10 PM IST