2023-09-15 17:30:00
GEOPOLITICS – India conducted a veritable diplomatic festival all year round: more than 200 meetings of international delegations were organized in 60 cities across the country, culminating in the 18th summit of the G20. For three days, heads of state from more than 40 countries met in New Delhi, but without major decisions. On the side of Western leaders, things are looking gloomy.
The G20 concluded on Sunday September 10 in New Delhi. If this summit attempted to display an image of unity between its participating countries, this does not correspond to the reality of an increasingly fragmented world. When it was created in 1999, with a first meeting in Berlin, the objective of the G20 was to improve the coordination of economic and financial policies. Coming out of a major Asian financial crisis, the aim was to stabilize international trade and bring together both the great powers and the so-called emerging countries.
But today, this vow of cooperation is threatened by a new “cold war” between the two superpowers, the United States and Russia. Other countries like China or India also want to impose their leadership and are ready to reshape the world order. For example with participation in the BRICS bloc, an alternative geopolitical agreement which is in full expansion.
The rise of Beijing and the emergence of the nations of the South
For their part, Europe’s main democracies are losing influence in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, to the benefit of regimes such as Beijing. At the same time, the South (sometimes called the “Global South”), which includes developing countries or whose GDP has already increased significantly in recent years, is increasingly active on several fronts: it is demanding more attention within the international community and wants to take its full place in global governance agreements.
To face this new competition, the West is making do with the means at hand and reacting quietly. US President Joe Biden took advantage of the absence of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Delhi to try to share the spotlight with host Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister.
The President of the United States took this opportunity to unveil an ambitious program. This includes new financing agreements for low-income countries, as well as a mega infrastructure project, namely a maritime and rail corridor aimed at linking India to the Middle East.
This initiative is designed to counter the new Silk Road promoted by Beijing (“One Belt, One Road”). And to give support to the Arab partners of the USA who are now strengthening their ties with China.
The war in Ukraine muted?
Despite these efforts, the leaders’ summit leaves a bitter taste in the West. If a defense of multilateralism was unanimously praised, no major commitment to develop more balanced and diverse international cooperation was proposed.
Only the Indian president triumphed over the moment, taking advantage of this international meeting to heal his national aura, thanks to obtaining a consensus during the signing of the final declaration of the summit.
The part on the war in Ukraine, one of the expected points of the discussion, ultimately had no response. If the subject relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have caused some noise during the G20 in Indonesia, with the Bali declaration (2022), the mention of the conflict at the time of the final agreement was this times almost absent.
The questioning of the political and economic impact of the Russo-Ukrainian war on a global scale was without relief. A brief reminder of the UN charter was made: “All States must refrain from resorting to the threat or use of force to seek territorial gains against the territorial integrity and political sovereignty of any State.”
No condemnation of countries present at the G20 was heard. No doubt with regard to the position of China, which refuses to point the finger at Russia. The delegations were thus satisfied with the final summit agreement, even if it reveals greater distrust in the idea of unconditional support for Kiev: this agreement is a blow to the influence of Western countries which attempted , in vain, to get other states to join in a stronger condemnation of Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the India summit as a success. He said that due to the consolidated position of the countries of the South, Russia managed to ensure that the G20 agenda was not overshadowed by the conflict in Ukraine.
“We countered Western attempts to make Ukraine central to the summit agenda”, did he declare. On the other hand, in kyiv, the government of Volodymir Zelensky expressed its dissatisfaction by declaring that the “G20 has nothing to be proud of.”
The conclusion of the summit was marked by the transfer of responsibilities between Modi and Brazilian Lula da Silva, who will host the next G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next year. Lula gave an unexpected wink to Putin, absent in Delhi, assuring him that he would not be arrested if he decided to go to Brazil.
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