India is hosting a G20 summit this weekend where US President Joe Biden will try to take advantage of the absence of his Chinese and Russian counterparts to strengthen his alliances within a deeply divided bloc.
Gaping differences over the war in Ukraine, the phasing out of fossil fuels and debt restructuring are expected to dominate discussions and, likely, prevent any agreement at the two-day meeting in New Delhi.
Joe Biden will discuss ‘a series of joint efforts to tackle global issues’, including climate change and ‘mitigating the economic and social consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine’, adviser says to National Security at the White House, Jake Sullivan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the summit, which is being held as trade and geopolitical tensions escalate with the United States and India, with which China shares a long and disputed border.
Beijing also resents India’s membership in the Quad, a security partnership with Australia, Japan and the United States that China sees as an effort to counter its influence.
China has not explained why Xi will snub the Sept. 9-10 summit. She only confirmed that Premier Li Qiang will join the leaders of the G20, whose countries account for about 85 percent of the global economy and greenhouse gas emissions.
The Chinese president’s absence is expected to weigh on Washington’s efforts to keep the G20 the main forum for global economic cooperation.
“Without China’s participation, questions may not arise or come to a logical conclusion,” said Happymon Jacob, professor of political science at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Another shadow on the summit: the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin will also be absent, replaced by his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Mr. Putin has been under an arrest warrant since March from the International Criminal Court, which accuses him of war crimes for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. The Kremlin called the charges “null and void.”
“Until Russia ends this war, it can never be business as usual,” said German government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner.
The global crises facing the G20 are “much more difficult, more complicated and more worrying than they have been for a long time,” said Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
India, which has just affirmed its status as a space power by landing a spacecraft on the Moon in August, sees in its presidency of the G20 a pivotal moment which will definitely make it a world player of the first order.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents India as the self-proclaimed leader of the “Global South”, which aims to be a bridge between developed and developing countries, and pushes for the bloc to expand to the “G21” by hosting the African Union.
Mr Modi is trying to use the G20 to reform multilateral institutions, such as the UN, and give more voice to developing countries.
“India’s emergence as the fastest growing economy in the world and its inclusive approach is good news for countries in the South,” said former Indian diplomat Sujan Chinoy, director of the Institute. Manohar Parrikar for defense studies and analyses.
But the Indian leader’s efforts to push his G20 counterparts to overcome their disagreements and tackle critical global issues were in vain during ministerial meetings ahead of the summit.
In July, the G20 energy ministers failed to agree on a roadmap aimed at reducing the use of fossil fuels. They didn’t even mention coal, a dirty fuel that remains an essential energy source for India and China.
These two countries are among the biggest polluters on the planet. But they argue that Western countries, which began polluting during their Industrial Revolution two centuries ago, must bear much greater historic responsibility for the climate crisis.
Any hope for a G20 consensus on energy and climate is also meeting resistance from countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia, which fear that a transition away from fossil fuels could undermine their economies.
09/06/2023 05:49:21 – New Delhi (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
