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the DON JONES
INDEX… |
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GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED
9/18/23... 14,902.16
9/11/23... 15,009.60 |
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6/27/13… 15,000.00 |
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(THE DOW
JONES INDEX: 9/18/23... 34,593.91; 9/11/23... 34,583.93; 6/27/13…
15,000.00) |
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LESSON for September 18th, 2023 –
“COWBOYS and INDIANS BHARATIS?”
Off trotted globe-trotting President Joe to Delhi after wrapping
his Labor Day celebrations; off to attend... wheel, deal, wheedle and,
eventually, dawdle at the annual G-20 summit, hosted by India.
Or not... President Narendra Modi (sometimes described as a
Hindu fanatic) has decreed that what is now the world’s most populous nation
will be de-Westernizing and de-colonializing by junking the sobriquet conferred
upon it by the Royal British Empire back in the 60’s (the 1860’s) and will
hereafter be known as Bharat.
The insistence upon a de-Westernized name... while
deliberately intended as a gesture of disrespect to the United Kingdom, to
English-speaking nations (including, of course, the United States) and to the
larger contingent of white-skinned, Western-oriented, (mostly) wealthy
democracies.
The G20 was founded in 1999 in response to several world economic crises,
its Wikipedia page observes. “Since 2008, it
has convened at least once a year, with summits involving each member's head of government or state, finance minister, or foreign minister, and other high-ranking officials; the EU is represented by the European Commission and
the European Central Bank.[7][8][c]
India has held the G20 presidency since 1 December 2022, with its
presidency's theme being Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or "वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्" in Sanskrit or translated as "One Earth, One Family, One Future'"
in English.[A][35][36] and is to be concluded from 9 Sept to 10 Sept 2023 at Capital City
Delhi.[37]
In an interview on 26 August 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed optimism about the G20 countries' evolving agenda under
India's presidency, shifting toward a human-centric development approach that
aligns with the concerns of the Global South, including addressing climate change, debt restructuring through
the G20's Common Framework for debt, and a strategy for regulation of
global cryptocurrencies.[38][39][40]
“Bharat” (see below) was the first inkling that, what
President Joe and the elites of politics, diplomacy, industry, media and
culture deployed mostly to Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles and a few
other centres of urban influence and sophistication
had hoped would be an American triumph after Communist Chinese President Xi
chose to boycott the gathering and Russia’s Mad Vlad Putin, unsure as to
whether his designation as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court
would subject him to arrest, trial and punishment should his feet kiss the
tarmac at the Delhi airport also chose
to disattend.
(Both sent substitutes, who were treated as what they were –
substitutes.)
Not that Mister Modi was signaling a shift in the
Indian/Bharati departure from a semi-democratic, semi-Westernized neutral in
the great games transpiring between Russia, China and the United States...
relationships with the Chinese, at least, are tense, geopolitical and
geographic.
CNBC’s list of attendees and their arrival times (September
8, Attachment Two) noted that Argentina President Alberto Fernández would be first to arrive at 6:20 AM
on Friday, President Joe Biden being likely to reach Delhi around 7 pm and the
last to clock in would be Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
at 10:45 pm – and so it came to pass. Spain sent a substitute delegate
President Pedro Sánchez got it (the plague),
Biden arrived “hoping to seize on an opening created by the absence of the Russian and
Chinese leaders.” (CNN, September 9th, Attachment Three) called the Russian
and Chinese boycotts “a disappointment” to India – adding that the United
States intended to use the summit as “an opportunity to strengthen
relationships with the rest of the nations
attending.”
“I will say that I think for our
Indian partners, there is substantial disappointment that they’re not here and
gratitude that we are,” deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for
the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell told reporters shortly after Biden’s
(pre-summit) meeting with Modi.” India’s
Hindu nationalism and resulting decline in human rights (especially of Muslims
who make up two hundred of India’s thirteen hundred souls) went unmentioned by
the White House.
After the meeting, officials
celebrated the improving relationship between India and the United States –
describing it as “completely turned around” – but adding that Biden still
pushed Modi on the state of democracy in his country.
“India continues to be a work in
progress,” said Campbell of the thirty centuries’ old host nation. CNN added that, rather than lecturing Modi,
Biden hoped to make the argument that “the United States can act as a better
partner for developing countries than China.”
So, on September 10th, Time reported that “India and
the U.S. Succeeded at the G20 Without China’s Xi”. (Attachment Four)
But the G-20 summit also highlighted the rise of the
so-called Global South – a trend epitomized by the wealthy countries’ agreement
to allow the African Union (tho’ not any individual
African states) into the party. (See
Attachment
The greater openness by the United
States toward the priorities of the Global South and flexibility on the war
language comes as China is gaining influence in the BRICS forum, an expanding
global group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that excludes
Washington.
The recent BRICS summit
“underscored … the rising importance of the Global South” and the forums that
it occupies with China and Russia, said Ian Lesser of the German Marshall
Fund. (Washington Post, September 11, Attachment Five)
Consequently, the Summiteers consensed to welcome the
African Union as a permanent
member, “a powerful acknowledgement of Africa as its more than 50 countries
seek a more important role on the global stage.” (AP, September 8, Attachment Six)
U.S. President
Joe Biden called last year for
the AU’s permanent membership in the G20, saying it’s been “a long time in
coming.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the current AU chair,
Comoros President Azali Assoumani,
with a hug on Saturday at the G20 summit his country is hosting, saying he was
“elated.”
“Congratulations to all of Africa!”
said Senegal President Macky Sall,
the previous AU chair who helped to push for membership. The AU had advocated
for full membership for seven years, spokesperson Ebba Kalondo
said.
Until
now, South
Africa was the bloc’s
only G20 member.
The AU’s 55 member states, which
include the disputed Western Sahara (and, now, the accursed Morocco and Libya),
have pressed for meaningful roles in the global bodies that long represented a
now faded post-World War II order, including the United
Nations Security Council. They also want reforms to a global financial
system - including the World Bank and other entities - that forces
African countries to pay more than others to borrow money,
deepening their debt.
“China
is Africa’s largest trading partner and one of its largest
lenders. Russia is
its leading arms provider (and, on again/off again supplier of grain to the
millions of “food insecure” families). Gulf nations have become some of the
continent’s biggest investors. Turkey ’s
largest overseas military base and embassy are in Somalia. Israel and Iran are
increasing their outreach in search of partners.”
Finding
a common position among the AU’s member states, from the economic powers of Nigeria and Ethiopia to
some of the world’s poorest nations, can be a challenge, reported the AP, and
the AU itself has long been urged by some Africans to be more forceful in its
responses to coups and
other crises.
But
they united in loudly criticizing “the hoarding of vaccines by rich countries
and teamed up to
pursue bulk purchases of supplies for the continent.”
And with Russia (into which camp the Global South was edging
until war in Ukraine and consequent pariahship over
food embargoes to starving Global Southerners forced them to back off)
isolated, angry and slowly but surely losing that war which was supposed to
restore the glory (if not the economics) of the Soviet Empire,
Brazil, which
will host the 2024 G-20 gabfest, has already “backpedaled” on threats that Putin...
fingered by the international
criminal court (ICC), which has issued a warrant for the Russian leader’s
arrest for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
As a signatory of the Rome statute, Brazil is duty-bound to cooperate
with the court, but President Lula da Silva has “raised eyebrows by telling an
Indian interviewer there was “no reason” Putin would be
detained if he travelled to the November 2024
summit in Brazil.” (Guardian UK,
September 9, Attachment Seven)
Lula
has attempted to position himself as a potential peace broker between Moscow
and Kyiv, arguing some countries must remain “neutral” if peace is to be
achieved. So, while not departing the
G-20, he has also been double-dealing with BRICS, which summit he will attend
(in “neural” Russia!) before next year’s G-20.
“I
think everyone is starting to realize that humanity is growing tired of this
war, people are growing tired,” Lula told a press conference on Monday.
However,
GUK reported, “many suspect Brazil’s reluctance to take Ukraine’s side is
partly explained by its heavy reliance on Russian fertilizer for its powerful
agribusiness sector. About a quarter of the South American country’s fertilizer
imports come from Russia.”
Further, according
to Al Jazeera (September 11, Attachment Eight), DeSilva has also questioned Brazil’s membership in the United
Nations war crimes court itself, saying on Monday that “emerging countries
often sign things that are detrimental to them”.
“I want to know why we are members but not the
United States, not Russia, not India, not China,” Lula said. Brazil is “a signatory to the Rome Statute,
which led to the founding of the ICC and obliges members to comply with its
arrest warrants.
“I’m not saying I’m going to leave
the court. I just want to know why Brazil is a signatory.”
The ICC has announced the arrest warrant for
Putin in March over the Russian president’s
suspected involvement in the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from
occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
The Kremlin has denied the war
crime accusation, insisting the warrant against Putin is “void”.
In retaliation, “Russia also
issued an arrest warrant in May for Karim
Khan, the prosecutor at The Hague-based war crimes
court”, who also has been added to the “wanted list” of the Russian Ministry of
Internal Affairs.
On Saturday, the G20 nations
adopted a declaration that avoided condemning Moscow for the war in Ukraine but
called on all states to refrain from using force to grab territory.
The next
summit is slated for November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro and Lula said he hoped “by
then the war is
over”.
In a further slap at the West,
also from the Jazzies (September 5, Attachment Nine),
Modi “replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word in dinner invitations sent
to guests attending this week’s Group of 20 (G20) summit, triggering speculation
that the name of the country will be officially changed.
“Droupadi
Murmu was referred to as “President of Bharat”
instead of “President of India” in the invitation sent to G20 attendees on
Tuesday.
The G-20 host nation of more than
1.4 billion people is officially known by two names, India and Bharat, but the
former is most commonly used, both domestically and internationally. Hindustan
is another word for the nation and is often used in literature and other forms
of popular culture.
Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word
that many historians believe dates back to early Hindu texts. The word is also
used as a Hindi option for India.
“Officials of Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) back the change in
nomenclature. They argue that the name India was introduced by British
colonials and is a “symbol of slavery”. The British ruled India for about 200
years until the country gained independence in 1947.”
Disputes
over “India” vs “Bharat” have gained ground since opposition parties in July
announced a new alliance –
called the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA – to
unseat Modi and defeat his party in of national elections in 2024.
Since then, some officials in
Modi’s party have demanded that the country be called Bharat instead of India.
Many Indian media outlets, citing sources,
on Tuesday reported that the government might bring a resolution to that effect
during a special parliament session this month.
Modi’s
government says the name changes are an effort to reclaim India’s Hindu
past. But, contended the liberal GUK (September
8th, Attachment Ten), the US should not normalize “Modi’s autocratic and illiberal India (or
Bharat)”... President Joe, despite his lip-service to democracy and human rights,
continuing to embrace autocrats and would-be autocrats, according to propagandist
Jason Stanley.
The
Guardian has not exactly championed Islam-ism in the past, but compared the
Biden/Modi bro-fest to his embrace, as allies, autocrats and would-be autocrats
all over the world, including the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who
US intelligence has said was responsible for the brutal murder of the
Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. More recently, Biden invited
Benjamin Netanyahu, who is presiding over the destruction of Israel’s democracy
by targeting its judicial system, for an official visit to the United States.”
Those
in Modi’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata party
(BJP), are hardline Hindu nationalists. Their ideology holds that India was originally a pure Hindu
state, with minorities, such as India’s large Muslim population, the supposed
result of colonization by outside forces.
The hallmarks of fascism are
everywhere. School textbooks are being rewritten to reinforce the fake history behind BJP’s Hindu nationalist
agenda. Topics like the theory of evolution and the periodic table have been replaced with traditional Hindu theories, and academics have been silenced for calling out the BJP’s election malpractices. The government has
weaponized education in the manner typical of fascist regimes such as Russia. There are other clear indications of India’s slide towards
fascism. On press freedom, India ranks 161st out of 180 countries, sandwiched between Venezuela
(at 159) and Russia (at 164).
At least China’s is worse… better only than
North Korea. (See Appendix – Attachment
Twenty Four)
Modi
and the BJP have proven themselves to be fluent hypocrites on the world stage.
Under the banner of anticolonialism, the party is replicating Britain’s
colonial practices. India’s minorities
face lynchings and the bulldozing of their homes, among other abuses. Ten percent of the world’s
Muslims live in India, over 200 million in all; as Gregory Stanton, the founder
and director of Genocide Watch, has warned in a US congressional
briefing, we are seeing in India the beginning of what would be by far the
largest genocide in history.
Since
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (and where Brazil’s pivot to neutralisty...
or, some say, a left-fascism... may be consequential to Russian fertilizer),
India has become one of the world’s largest importers of Russian oil –
essentially propping up Russia’s occupation and genocide of its peaceful
neighbor. Genocidal regimes support one another, in an alliance of evil, and
the rest of the world must stand against them.
So,
has the US been listening? “The answer is clearly no.” concluded Stanley who...
noting the American opposition to Russian genocide in Ukraine, but “shrugging”
at Modi’s potentially vast genocide in India (as well as the ongoing genocide
in Sudan) raises an obvious concern: is the US public’s standard for this crime
much higher when black and brown people face the threat?”
The wishy-washy resolutions on
Ukraine, as well as climate change, were also downplayed in Israel, where the
Jerusalem Post’s three “key takeaways” from the summit were: “Development,
inclusivity, and the asserting of indigenous Indian identity.”
Indian
technological achievements were showcased in a special display hall at the
summit, to be opened to the public subsequently. Indian pride swelled for
technologies that service the entire nation of 1.4 billion.
In the
name of inclusivity, there was much talk about development in the “Global
South”. PM Modi made a point of ensuring the African Union was invited to the
G-20 summit. The Sanskrit maxim “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” - The world is one family – was constantly
evoked by Indian officials, and the G-20 theme was “One Earth, One Family, One
Future”.
“Although
official voices did not dwell on it, the theme of indigenous Indian identity
carries anti-European undertones. Under the rubric of de-colonizing the Indian
mentality, Indian Nationalists of Modi’s BJP government are making a statement
that they will now determine their destiny and stop obeying orders from white
men.” (September 12, Attachment Twelve)
“Despite
warm personal relations between PM Modi and PM Netanyahu, Israel was not
invited to the G-20 as an observer state, while Egypt, UAE, and Oman were among
the invitees. One reason may be the reluctance of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
Bin Salman (MBS) to be seen publicly with Netanyahu.”
And the
drama around Russia was so intense that there was initial doubt if a joint
declaration would be issued, due to India (which is dependent on Mad Vlad for
cheap energy and weapons) “insisting on what was perceived as language too
forgiving toward Russia.”
Opportunities
for the U.S.A. to gain credibility at the expense of its greatest military and commercial
rivals abounded – but quickly faded under the hot Delhi sun, leaving Biden with
a cruel curry of regrets, humiliation and excuses. Not the sort of outcome desired by a nation
that still wants to pose as Number One, Baby, Number One!
With Mad Vlad Putin, hat in hand, reduced to groveling before
the NoKo’s even crazier dictator Kim to secure the
arms and ammunition that Russia cannot produce enough of in exchange for the
sort of nuclear and even interstellar technology that Kim can employ against
his enemies in South Korea the question over whether Russia can keep supplying
India with weaponry may impact the Indian/Bharati global posturing... although
Modi still needs oil and sees Moscow as a check on a nearer and fear-ered adversary: China.
“India’s trade with Russia has actually increased since the war began,
and India is also heavily reliant upon Russia for arms exports. India bought
weapons worth over $60 billion in the last 20 years, and 65% or nearly $39
billion were from Russia, according to Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute data,” contended Fox News.
(September 8, Attachment Thirteen)
President Joe knows and pulled out all the stops... despite
the lack of press freedom, despite the persecution of minorities and despite
BRICS... even expressing regrets, on behalf of India, that Xi and Putin had
chosen to boycott.
“I will say that I think for our Indian partners, there is substantial
disappointment that they’re not here and gratitude that we are,” deputy
assistant to the president and coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell
told reporters, including CNN (Attachment Three, above) shortly after Biden’s
meeting with Modi.
"As Xi and Putin shrink from the
global stage, the U.S. has an excellent opportunity to reclaim the mantle of
global leadership, helping other G-20 nations recognize and promote the value
of transparency, development, and open trade supported by democratic rules and
principles," Elaine Dezenski, Senior Director
for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies’s
Center on Economic and Financial Power, told Fox News Digital.
Maria
Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, said that the
“Ukrainization” of the summit had prompted Mr. Putin to stay away. Foreign
Minister Sergey V. Lavrov will represent Russia at the meeting.
“It has
become difficult for the countries of the G20 to work due to the fact that not
a single meeting is complete without a discussion of Ukraine,” a Russian
television channel, 360,
quoted Ms. Zakharova as saying, blaming leaders of the United States and its
allies for forcing the meeting in that direction.
Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov,
said that Russia had not coordinated its boycott plans with China,
Nonetheless, what the New York Times (September 9, Attachment Fourteen)
called a “painstakingly negotiated declaration” omitted any
condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or its brutal conduct of the war,
instead lamenting the “suffering” of the Ukrainian people and noted the
“adverse impact of wars and conflicts around the world” – a sharp contract to the “similar document
agreed to less than a year ago in Bali, when leaders acknowledged different views
over the invasion but still issued a strong condemnation of the Russian
invasion and called on Moscow
to withdraw its troops.”
(In the
third paragraph of the 2022 joint statement, the G20 had declared that the
group “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation
against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the
territory of Ukraine” – which resolution passed with “141 votes for, 5 against,
35 abstentions, 12 absent.” That line
is nowhere to be found in this year’s statement, nor was any other mention
calling for a Russian withdrawal.)
Biden’s
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan insisted that the resolution did “a
very good job of standing up for the principle that states cannot use force to
seek territorial acquisition or to violate the territorial integrity and
sovereignty or political independence of other states,” but Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, said
on Facebook that the omission of Russian aggression was “nothing to
be proud of.”
Nor was
the prospect of Chinese imperialism against Taiwan and tightening grip on Hong
Kong voiced by the American President, except for his remark that “it would be
nice” (for India) if President Xi had attended.
Among
the Times’ timelines and takeaways was the news of the 37-page joint
declaration on Ukrraine
and a statement that the G-20 would be
“redirecting” funds from climate to the development of biofuels. Last year, rich countries agreed at a climate
summit in Egypt to establish a fund that
would help poor, vulnerable countries cope with climate disasters made worse by
pollution from wealthy nations. But many of the details of how the fund would
work were left unresolved.
A meeting of
climate ministers from G20 countries in India earlier this summer failed to
produce consensus on climate-mitigation targets,” according to Times-servers Mike Ives and Alex Travelli
who added that a “turgid outcome
document” from that July
meeting said only that the delegates urged countries that had not yet aligned
their emissions with goals of the Paris climate agreement to “revisit and
strengthen” their 2030 targets by the end of this year.
Reuterrs, in fact, all but called the summet
a failure... scoffing that its Ukraine declaration “papered over” key
differences and presented “few concrete
achievements in its core remit of responses to global financial issues.” (September 11, Attachment Fifteen) The decision to submit to weakened language (subsequently
mocked and castigated by President Joe’s domestic opposition) “would have signalled that the G20 was split, perhaps irrevocably,
between the West on one side and China and Russia on the other, analysts said,”
leaving India caught in a crossfire on Ukraine and, regarding climate change, a
soft-pedaling on prior commitments to “phase down” coal which, Reuters noted,
“is still a vital fuel in many developing economies and may remain so for
decades to come.”
Fox, noting that the 2023 forums purpose :was for economic discussions rather than security issues,” (September 8, Attachment Sixteen) also called its “milquetoast statement” a dramatic difference from the group's statement
at the Bali summit last November.
And CNN, earlier on the 9th,
listed some of the authoritarian leaders and delegates embraced ty President
Joe (Attachment Seventeen) including bin Salman, with whom he shook hands with
(“a decidedly different approach than
the fist bump Biden offered the prince during a visit
to Saudi Arabia last summer”) and leaders of India, the United Arab Emirates
and the European Union signed a memorandum of understanding laying out
prospects of a new project to create a “corridor” to challenge China’s own
“sprawling overseas development initiative, known as the Belt and Road,” which
has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects each year.
Reuters, before the summit began, called the delegates “sherpas” (a reference to the native guides escorting
wealthy travelers, mostly Western, through the high Himalayas) in guiding any
final resolution towards resolution.
(Tibetan refugees, in fact, staged a
protest away from the
city centre on Friday, demanding that the
"occupation" of their country by China be discussed during the
summit.)
Reuters also noted that the government had “cleaned up” the environs of
New Delhi... “slums (being) demolished and monkeys and
stray dogs have been removed from the streets.”
(September 8, Attachment Eighteen) Where those slum dwellers, dogs and
monkeys eventually wound up was not disclosed.
Within the purged and spiffed up Delhi, U.N.
Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres said G20 leaders have the power to reset a climate crisis that is
"spinning out of control" and urged them to reshape global financial
rules which he described as outdated and unfair.
"The climate crisis is worsening dramatically –
but the collective response is lacking in ambition, credibility, and
urgency," Guterres said in a speech.
And nowhere is the climate crisis (along with many,
many other crises) apparent than in what Modi and other Gee Twenty Whizzers now
call the Global South... as witness the hurried inclusion of the African Union
(most members of which do not, skin colour aside) fit
the profile of wealthy (or at least solvent) Western democracies,
semi-democracies or absent dictatorships and a downplaying of the
Russia/Ukraine war... seen as a conflict of the Global North.
“The
most important shift in the Delhi summit is that developing countries had a
much stronger voice than they’ve had in the G-20 ever before,” Nirupama Subramanian, an Indian foreign policy commentator
told the Washington Post (September
11, Attachment Nineteen).
“Wealthier countries accepted that they cannot
allow the Ukraine war to cause a breakdown of the G-20. This is why they went
along with a watering down on the language of the war.”
Recognition
of the Global South may have been Modi’s way of either blunting or enhancing
the prestige of BRICS and, according to Ian Lesser of the German Marshall Fund,
the Ukrainian compromise “seemed to be a price that the ‘West’ would pay in
order give India a multilateral success, but to also to underscore the
importance of the G-20 as a vehicle for North-South relations.”
Making
the Ukes S.O.L., as far as international support went.
The
G-20, Richard Gowen, the United Nations director at the International Crisis
Group, wrote in an email, wants India as a counterweight to Beijing and so
played nice with Putin – having come to accept that India is not going to turn
against Russia completely over Ukraine,” Gowen wrote. “So
they had a choice. They could either dig in over the Ukraine language and make
India lose face, or compromise over Ukraine and give Modi a win.”
(And
China a defeat.)
Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, South Asia practice head at the
Eurasia Group, noted that the United States had clearly concluded that “the
real damage for American interests would be a failed G-20 summit, because it
would be a Chinese win at India’s expense.” Instead, “the Americans threw all
their weight behind the Indians. … The optics for the Indians were very good.”
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, taking his victory lap, told a room of
reporters over the weekend that the “Global South managed to prevent the West’s
attempts to once again, ‘Ukrainize’ the entire
agenda,” according to a translation of his statements. A
Ukrainian spokesperson said on Facebook that the
declaration was “nothing to be proud of.”
French
President Emmanuel Macron, being French, told reporters that the G-20 was not a
forum for diplomacy on the war, but maintained that the document still
condemned the war.
President
Joe’s domestic critics pounced.
“It was
a win for Russia and China. They’re celebrating today,” Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador
and Republican presidential candidate, said
on CNN.
It was
also a win for BRICS (Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa), formed as a way to amplify the voice of those emerging
economies (or, in the case of Russia, a retreating one, increasingly dependent
on its fossil fuel sales) on the global stage and “promote trade and
development between them” according to Euronews (July 9, Attachment Twenty)
Now, with the incoming addition of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt,
Argentina and the UAE, BRICS’s growing influence on the global economy is sure
to be “on the table” of the G20 summit, according to economist Dennis Snower.
Snower, who is president of the non-profit Global
Solutions Initiative, suggested it’s possible the world is drifting from a
position of global cooperation, as initially envisaged under the G20, to one
where countries in separate blocs cooperate amongst themselves and compete or
are even in conflict with other blocs.
The latter scenario “would be a disaster,” Snower said.
“There
is a terrible danger that different power blocs will seek to exert influence in
their own narrow interests instead of for the global common good,” Snower predicted – perhaps anticipating “long shadow” as
engendered the pro-Russia, anti-Ukraine pivot of the global summit.
The Russians
and the Chinese have responded by trying to divide the West by creating
divisions between the greenies and Ukes.
“This war is an important problem, but it should not
keep us from finding collaborative solutions in other areas that are not
related to it”, Sower said. “The next generation will not forgive us if we say
we have forgotten about climate change because of the war in Ukraine.”
The result,
according to the BBC, has been that... even while boycotting the summit on the
excuse that Putin would be arrested if he attended... Russia hailed the “unexpected G20 'milestone'
(while) Ukraine fume(d).” (Attachment Twenty One)
"Speaking frankly
we didn't expect that. We were ready to defend our wording of the text. The
Global South is no longer willing to be lectured," Russia's
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in answer to a question by the BBC's
Yogita Limaye.
The G-20 outlook was better on the
environmental front.
Members announced that they “have reached
a 100% consensus to "pursue and encourage efforts to triple renewable
energy capacity globally through existing targets and policies". The bloc
accounts for more than 75% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
“And India launched a global biofuel
alliance with US and Brazil to boost the use of cleaner fuels. The grouping is
aimed at accelerating global efforts to meet net zero emissions targets by
facilitating trade in biofuels derived from sources including plant and animal
waste.”
Early on Sunday afternoon, Mr Modi closed the summit, ending months of fanfare and
anticipation. He handed a ceremonial gavel to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, which is taking over the
presidency.
Problems faced by developing countries
dominated President Lula's speech.
"We are living in a world where
wealth is more concentrated, in which millions of human beings still go hungry,
where sustainable development is always threatened, in which global governance
institutions still reflect the reality of middle of the last century," he
said.
And then, departing New Delhi, busy busy President Joe journeyed to the East to meet with
Vietnamese negotiators (as his wife, Jill, battled cancer in Washington).
CNN reported “five takeaways” from the
trip (September 11, Attachment Twenty Two) as
follows...
1. US praises G20 statement on Ukraine, even if it’s softer than
hoped
Leaders managed to agree on a joint statement laying out shared views on climate change and economic development but showed
the fractures within the group by stopping short of explicitly condemning
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan called the statement a
“significant milestone for India’s chairmanship and a vote of confidence that
the G20 can come together to address a pressing range of issues.
But Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko
criticized the declaration. “(T)he G20
has nothing to be proud of in the part about Russia’s aggression against
Ukraine,” he wrote on Facebook. “Obviously, the participation of the Ukrainian
side would have allowed the participants to better understand the situation.
The principle of ‘nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains as key as
ever.”
2. Biden offers an alternative to China’s Belt and Road
He announced the launch of a new economic corridor that will
connect India, the Middle East and Europe on Saturday.
The plans could potentially transform global trade and directly challenge
China’s own sprawling overseas development initiative.
3. G20 hosts disappointed at Xi and Putin’s absence
White House officials called it “a disappointment” to India that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping did
not participate in the summit, but added that the United States intended to use it as an
opportunity to strengthen relationships with the rest of the nations that
attended. (India,
in fact, emerged as the big winner as G-20 closed Sunday – DJI)
4. Biden tries to pull Vietnam closer to US
Acting on the presumption that an enemy of my enemy may not be a friend,
but could be a strategic ally, Biden’s
trip to Hanoi was “his latest attempt to pull another one of China’s neighbors closer to the United States.”
He has already made overtures to the Philippines, conferred with Japan
and South Korea and, of course, now, India.
(E)ven as it seeks to avoid China’s wrath,
Vietnam is increasingly “pulled toward the US out of economic self-interest –
its trade with the US has ballooned in recent years and it is eager to benefit
from American efforts to diversify supply chains outside of China.”
5. Awkward moment at press conference
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
on Sunday abruptly ended a news conference with Biden in Hanoi, at one point taking a microphone and announcing the event was concluded
even as the president was still answering questions from reporters in the room.
Minutes before Jean-Pierre ended the press conference, Biden had
delivered a lengthy answer that involved a rambling explanation of why he uses
the phrase “lying dog-faced pony soldier” in an attempt to explain his feelings
about politicians who deny the existence of climate change
The moment comes days after a CNN poll showed about three-quarters of
Americans say they are concerned Biden’s age might negatively affect his current
level of physical and mental competence and his ability to serve another full
term if reelected.
And, above and beyond the question of whether President Joe is capable of
standing up to the rigors and scrutiny of key diplomatic endeavors like G-20
(and next, an address before the U.N. General Assembly which might also include
the presence of Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy), the validity of the G-20 itself
came under question in an editorial by Trump’s former National Security Advisor
and man with the serious moustache, John Bolton – again, on the 22nd
anniversary of the Nine Eleven (Washington Post, Attachment Twenty Three)
“Many originally
saw the G-20 as a broader alternative to the global West’s Group of Seven,
comprising the world’s largest industrial democracies,” Bolton opined, adding
that the failed attempt to include Russia was cratered by the first Russian
invasion of Ukraine (2014), with the more recent incursion being a kill shot.
But “by
contrast even to the G-7 herd of cats, the G-20 has been feckless,” Bolton
wrote. Though Russia and China boycotted
the Delhi smmit, their influence emasculated the
group’s stance on the war – and their wordy, but impotent posturing on climate
change further added to the disgrace.
When
asked to justify the G-20, Bolton wrote that its supporters “invariably say it
provides a useful platform for members to confer bilaterally outside the larger
meeting.’ While it is true the G-20 enables this “diplomatic
version of speed dating,” so do any number of other forums, not least the U.N.
“Eliminating
G-20 meetings,” the Big Moustache concluded, would free up the leaders’ time to
focus on “real issues, not diplomatic niceties.”
.
|
Our
Lesson: September Fourth through September Tenth, 2023 |
|
|
|
Monday, September 11, 2023 Dow:
34,663.72 |
It’s the 22nd
anniversary of the Nine Eleven.
Tributes are read, survivors and families pulled forth for more
interviews on the order of “How Do You Feel?” gatherings at NY’s reflecting
pool, Shanksville and the Pentagon where people are “moving, but not moving
on.” The earth, not its occupants, are the
terrorists of the week: the Moroccan earthquake toll tops 2,400 as rescue and
recovery teams search for the living and the dead. America pledges aid. And late in the night, reports arrive of
massive flooding in Libya where dams collapse and hundreds are believed
dead. And slow
moving Hurricane Lee crawls up the Atlantic coast where an unrelated
storm to its west creates more massive flooding... Yankee Stadium is
underwater. As the G-20 participants head back home or
to other meetings in other countries, President Joe visits Vietnam, where
brutal Communism and old grudges take a back seat to the War on China. Summit noshows
Vlad and Kim plan to meet in Vladivostok where Russia begs for ammo and
trades nuclear secrets. Iran prockets a $6B ransom for five unlawfully arrested
Americans. Republicans say Biden is
old and weak. |
|
|
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 Dow:
34,645.99 |
The immense magnitude of the Libyan floods push even Morocco into the background. Three thousand dead topping the 2,400
between Marrakesh and Casablanca... as the Moroccan government rejects
American aid and Hurrican Lee keeps crawling north.
Fugitive Cavalcante still eluding police and he has broken out of
their perimeter with a white dairy van and a rifle... authorities now say
that the combat zone is “Pennsylvania”.
Schools close and housewives get their guns. He contacts old friends for help but they
rat him out to the police and he keeps running.
And what is Congress doing during these diplomatic, climatic and
criminological disasters? K-Mac, now a
puppet of the craziest MAGAnoids agrees to start impleachment proceeding against President Joe for no
reason in particular... but there’s Hunter.
Asked if they have impeachable evidence, a GOP spokesman says “we’re developing it!”
The return of Aaron Rodgers to Monday Night Football with the Jets
lasts all of four plays until he is sacked and suffers a season ending Achilles injury. On
the brighter side, sick American caver trapped underground in Turkey is finall brought to the surface – alive and talking. |
|
|
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 Dow:
34,575.53 |
Libya’s death
toll reaches 5,300 as opposed to only 3,000 in Morocco – which still refuses
US aid. OK, there are plenty of
disasters to go around and Republicans are making new noise about shutting
down the gumment to protect their tax cuts for the
rich. Some of the richest of the rich are the
elite of sound and stage. The
Hollywood strikes fail to curtail the MTV/VMA awards, which are swept by
Taylor Swift. N’Sync
reunites and says it will release its first new music in 20 years – just like
the Rolling Stones. (Not!) And the 2023 “Dancing With
the Stars” contestants are named.
Nobody special... no Kim, no Masterson, no Rudy. The dancers include actors, athletes and
influencers like singer Jason Mraz, actress Mira Sorvino and less-famous
relative Jamie Lynn Spears. Yet another cruise ship catastrophe: the
Ocean Explorer carrying over 200 passengers who paid $20-30,000 to see
Greenland up closer see it closer than they wanted as it gets stuck in a
sandbar with rescue ships far away.
Fortunately, it’s still summer and there’s plenty of alcohol on board. |
|
|
Thursday, September 14, 2023 Dow:
34,907.11 |
The fugitive Cavalacant
is captured. He was hiding in melon
patches, eating watermelons and under piles of wood, but was exposed by
high-tech (infrared imaging drones and helicopters) and low-tech (a dog named
“Yoda”) and surrendered. Back to jail
for life.
Death toll in Libya rising to 6,000.
“A lot of people are under mud,” says a survivor, adding: “It’s a disasater.” That
it is. Moroccan EQ dead rising only
slightly as rescue and recovery workers admit it’s about recovery now.
Lee headed to Maine and New Brunswick,
landfall expected Saturday morning.
Worse than the impace are the rip currents
and high tides battering the Northeast from Boston to Washington. But there’s going to be a break of calm,
nice weather for a couple of days until Lee hits.
Hunter Biden re-indicted for having smoke crack cocaine and carrying
around a gun many, many years ago.
President Joe declines comment but other Dems say it’s just revenge
for their God, Donald Trump, who says “it’s fantastic” when he learns that
Mitt Romney is retiring. |
|
|
Friday, September 15, 2023 Dow: 34,593.91 |
60th anniversary of Birmingham
church bombing sees discourses and rallies – an elderly man who remembers
calls it “a special kind of evil”. The
Ku Klux Klan does not respond (or if they do, the mainstream media does not
carry it),
The UAW goes on strike at midnight – the first multiple action against America’s Big Three automakers. The union calls for wage increase parity
with CEOs – 40% over four years. The
companies offer 20%. GMs CEO Mary
Barra says her compensation is “performance based” and that “when the company
does well, everybody does well.” Union
symps ask: “How well?” The Hollywood strikers also
keep walking the picket lines – there is some talk of going back to the
bargaining table, but nothing materializes.
Plenty of legal rasslin’ over Donald Trump,
his four criminal cases and resulting gag order, Alex Murdagh
(who may walk on killing his wife and son because a court clerk tampered with
the jury in a scheme to write and sell her book), and the Republicans are
vowing to impeach Hunter Biden for drugs, guns and money. A Constitutional lawyer says: “Innocence
has three legs to it.” More than a man
or a monkey, fewer than a wolverine.
The death toll in Libya is 11,000 and rising. Bodies are washing ashore and mass burials
are beginning. In Morocco, “rescue”
turns to “recovery” but the government still refuses American aid. |
|
|
Saturday, September 16, 2023 Dow: (Closed) |
Hurricane Lee finally makes landfall, “lashing”
the North Atlantic coasts of Maine, Massachusetts and headed on up to Halifax
as a separate cluster of storms parks over Gotham causing flooding.
More Republican Republicans say that Hunter Biden’s charges are not
enough, they want to add sex trafficking and Ukrainian/Russian oil
corruption. Polls show 70% of the
voters don’t like President Joe. Gumment says it overpaid on Social Security and is
sending demand notices out to seniors, forcing some to lose their homes and
“live like fugitives.” Cop, shot in
the line of duty, dunned for $30,000 and an elderly woman for $200,000.
Chapo’s son Joaquin is extradited to the U.S. to face more drug and
gun smuggling charges while his wife, Emma, gets an early release from
prison.
That little old winemaker HIM
falls into a vat and drowns. |
|
|
Sunday, September 17, 2023 Dow: (Closed) |
Republicans
threaten to shut down the government on October first. Unemployment rising (see below) and so is
inflation (primarily gas prices, tho’ bacon and
eggs are down) so the Fed might not raise interest rates. Sunday talkrep
Nancy Mace (R-SC) promotes shutdown but defends K-Mac against the extreme
extremists who want him ousted, while Ken Buck (R-Co) waves the flag for
impeaching Biden. Former DNC Chair and
“This Week” roundtabler Donna Brazile
says the defining deviances are based on personality, not ideology.” Also profiled are soon-to-repire Joint Chief Gen. Mark Mille, who denounces some
“circus” soldiers and, as The Donald makes a weird “confession” on “Meet the
Press” and says that the military must remain politically neutral and Cindy
McCain of the U.N. World Food Program, who says that the Ukraine war has
sucked all the oxygen out of humanitarianism and global hunger breed terror “You can
feed (poor children) now or fight them later.” Sucker-in-Chief President Z. will, in
fact, come to the UN and also drop in on President Joe, begging for more arms
and money as the MAGAnoids advocate cutting him off
- even as Ukrainian soldiers recapture two villages near Bahkmut. “Life under Russia is like no life at all,”
says a refugee... citing no credit cards, no Internet and, of course, the ongoing
shelling. Also ongoing: the summer of strikes at
Hollywood and the Big Three automakers... Stellantis
(aka Chrysler) responds to 40% wage increase demand by raising their offer
from 20% to 21%! |
|
|
The indices are
starting to roll in for August and the results are grim... the Don fell by
more than a hundred points, one of its steepest declines ever. Job losses were catastrophic, but inflation
was also up... bringing back that old word “stagflation” (or, more aptly, “dropflation”?), and then there were the ongoing natural
disasters (Maui, Morocco, Libya).
Government revenues (i.e. taxes) cratered,
but that hasn’t stopped the MAGAright from
promising to shut down the government unless it proffers more tax cuts for
the donor class. And the summer of
strikes is turning into a fall of failures as battered Joneses have little to
entertain them save reruns and cruel gameshows. |
|
|
|
CHART of CATEGORIES
w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000 (REFLECTING… approximately…
DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013) See a further explanation
of categories ECONOMIC INDICES (60%)
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|
SOCIAL
INDICES (40%)
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ACTS of MAN |
12% |
|
|
-10205 |
|||||||
|
World Affairs |
3% |
450 |
9/11/23 |
+0.1% |
9/25/23 |
452.10 |
452.55 |
USA
ransoms five Iranian prisoners for $6B drawing acclaim from their families
and warnings from critics who say it will just embolden the mullahs to seize
more hostages. True to its name,
Hurricane Nigel veers off course to the Northeast and heads for England. |
|||
|
War and terrorism |
2% |
300 |
9/11/23 |
-0.1% |
9/25/23 |
293.47 |
293.18 |
Dictator
Kim departs his slow green train to meet Dictator Vlad in Vladivostok to eat
borscht and plot to kill people. Armed
man arrested at a political rally in L.A. for... RFK Junior? Alleged plotters to kidnap Gov. Whitmer
acquitted. |
|||
|
Politics |
3% |
450 |
9/11/23 |
-0.4% |
9/25/23 |
481.46 |
479.53 |
Election 2024
begins with first ads (Burgum), St. Ron promises to shoot migrants with
backpacks (that might contain drugs, guns or tiny sex slaves) and maybe
invade Mexico. Congress begins Biden
impeachment process as Hunter’s drug and gun plea deal overturned: asked
about evidence, GOP says “we’re developing
it.” Rep. Goetz (R-Fl) calls it a
“baby step”, promises more revenge indictments on Uke oil corruption and
dirty videos... controversial Rep. Boebert (R-Co)
“escorted” out of a theatre/restaurant showing “Beetlejuice” for vaping. Mitt Romney (R-Ut) retires with swipe at
unnamed old politicians (Don and Joe?). |
|||
|
Economics |
3% |
450 |
9/11/23 |
-0.4% |
9/25/23 |
429.18 |
427.46 |
Ding Dong
daddy Smucker’s buys out Hostess, Kroger &Albertson’s sell off 400
stores. GM CEO Mary Burry says her high
salary is “performance based” and menaces strikers, saying their highest
benefit is “job security”; Jim Farley (Ford) says UAW is re-destroying the
American economy, Hollywood strikers accuse Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore of scabbing. |
|||
|
Crime |
1% |
150 |
9/11/23 |
-0.2% |
9/25/23 |
250.99 |
250.49 |
Fugitive
Cavalcante captured in Pennsylvania on Day Thirteen by Yoda the Dog. School shootings in Louisville. Five (black) Memphis cops beat (black)
Tyree Nichols to death. LA deputy
killed in patrol car, shooter sought. Children are poisoned with fentanyl at
Bronx daycare – one dies, others saved with Narcon. |
|||
|
ACTS of GOD |
(6%) |
|
|
||||||||
|
Environment/Weather |
3% |
450 |
9/11/23 |
-0.1% |
9/25/23 |
399.88 |
399.48 |
Slow
moving Lee crawls up the Atlantic Coast; engenders high tides, rip currents
before landing in New England where it causes power outages and topples
“unhealthy” trees. Phoenix hits record
114° but then cools off into the ordinary hundreds. |
|||
|
Disasters |
3% |
450 |
9/11/23 |
-0.7% |
9/25/23 |
429.82 |
426.81 |
Moroccan
EQ toll topped by Libyan floods. Dam
failure provokes investigation... survivors say: “Only God (Allah) knows what
we are going through.” (And don’t
forget Maui!) American caver finaly hauled out of Turkish pit. 200 passengers on $30K arctic cruise
rescued after being stuck off Greenland. |
|||
|
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX |
(15%) |
|
|
||||||||
|
Science, Tech, Educ. |
4% |
600 |
9/11/23 |
-0.1% |
9/25/23 |
633.50 |
632.87 |
“Scattered
Spiders” (Russian hackers) extort $15M from Vegas casinos. Preident Joe
issues “watch list” of 15 spooky AI companies. Apple brings out phone charges compatable with (some) other models and pledges to stop
making stuff as has leather or fossile fuels. Two Philadelphia teachers suspended for
complaining about asbestos in schools. |
|||
|
Equality (econ/social) |
4% |
600 |
9/11/23 |
+0.2% |
9/25/23 |
625.98 |
627.23 |
MTV/VMA
awards highlight female musicians.
Taylor Swift dominates. (N’Sync reunites for the old folks) |
|||
|
Health |
4% |
600 |
9/11/23 |
+0.3% |
9/25/23 |
470.61 |
472.02 |
British
doctor says healthy people are less depressed. Really? CDC greenlights new Covid/flu vaxxes on vote of 13-1.
FDA calls nasal decongestants like Sudafed and DayQuil
useless. Not toxic, just useless. Red Cross warns of blood shortages. Jill Biden, recovered from plague, on tour
promoting Joe’s “cancer moonshot”. |
|||
|
Freedom and Justice |
3% |
450 |
9/11/23 |
nc |
9/25/23 |
467.29 |
467.29 |
Hunter
lawyer Abbe Lowell says “innocence has three legs.” (Mutant gorilla or amputee raccoon?) On the other side, Jack Smith tries to get Djonald UnSilenced but he
continues threatening witnesses and potential jurors, all but admitting on
“This Week” that he dood it. Texas AyGee
Paxton acquitted of corruption rap. Alex Murdagh
seeks to have have his murder rap
overturned due to court clerk lobbying jurors for conviction. |
|||
|
MISCELLANEOUS and TRANSIENT INDEX |
(7%) |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
Cultural incidents |
3% |
450 |
9/11/23 |
-0.1% |
9/25/23 |
503.40 |
502.90 |
Aaron
Rodgers’ comeback with the Jets lasts four plays and out (with ruptured Achilles tendon).
Braves win MLB divisions, Neon Deion wins 3rd
straight game for Colorado. Masterson
supporters like Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher called out by Christina Ricci. Dancing stars of 2023 include Jason Mraz,
Mira Sorvino and Jamie Lynn Spears.
Matthew McConaghy has a dream, then writes
children’s book “Just Because”. RIP Buzzy (hubby of Mary Peltola), ex-NBA star Brandon Hunter (during his yoga
class), Colombian artist Fernando Botero |
|||
|
Misc. incidents |
4% |
450 |
9/11/23 |
+0.1% |
9/25/23 |
483.79 |
484.27 |
Nevada
cattle ranchers complain of wild horses eating their grass. Scientists and cops are developing robot
K-9s for LAPD (sorry, Yoda). Sin City
hackers (above) have Vegas casinos sending runners out to pay cash to
winners. (Some) old VHS tapes becoming
collectors’ items, selling for thousands. |
|||
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|
|
|
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|
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|
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The Don Jones
Index for the week of September 11th through September 17th, 2023 was DOWN 107.44 points
The Don Jones
Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman
and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan, Administrator.
The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well
as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell,
environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch)
and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The Coming
Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere pawns in the web-serial “Black
Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action against parties
promulgating this and/or other such slanders.
Comments,
complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.
ATTACHMENT
ONE – From Wikipedia
G-20
The
G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and
the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global
economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation
and sustainable development.[3]
The
G20 is composed of most of the world's largest economies' finance ministries,
including both industrialised and developing
countries; it accounts for around 80% of gross world product (GWP),[4] 75% of
international trade,[b] two-thirds of the global
population,[5] and 60% of the world's land area.
The
G20 was founded in 1999 in response to several world economic crises.[6] Since
2008, it has convened at least once a year, with summits involving each
member's head of government or state, finance minister, or foreign minister,
and other high-ranking officials; the EU is represented by the European
Commission and the European Central Bank.[7][8][c] Other countries,
international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations are invited to attend
the summits, some permanently.
In
its 2009 summit, the G20 declared itself the primary venue for international
economic and financial cooperation.[9] The group's stature has risen during the
subsequent decade, and it is recognised by analysts
as exercising considerable global influence;[10] it is also criticised
for its limited membership,[11] lack of enforcement powers,[12] and for the
alleged undermining of existing international institutions.[11] Summits are
often met with protests, particularly by anti-globalization groups.[13][14]
History[edit]
The
G20 is the latest in a series of post–World War II initiatives aimed at
international coordination of economic policy, which include institutions such
as the "Bretton Woods twins", the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank, and what is now the World Trade Organization.[15]
The
G20 was foreshadowed at the Cologne summit of the G7 in June 1999, and formally
established at the G7 Finance Ministers' meeting on 26 September 1999 with an
inaugural meeting on 15–16 December 1999 in Berlin. Canadian finance minister
Paul Martin was chosen as the first chairman and German finance minister Hans
Eichel hosted the inaugural meeting.[16]
A
2004 report by Colin I. Bradford and Johannes F. Linn of the Brookings
Institution asserted the group was founded primarily at the initiative of
Eichel, the concurrent chair of the G7.[17] However, Bradford later described
then-Finance Minister of Canada (and future Prime Minister of Canada) Paul
Martin as "the crucial architect of the formation of the G-20 at finance
minister level", and as the one who later "proposed that the G-20
countries move to leaders level summits".[18] Canadian academic and
journalistic sources have also identified the G20 as a project initiated by Martin
and his American counterpart then-Treasury Secretary Larry
Summers.[19][20][21][22] All acknowledge, however, that Germany and the United
States played a key role in bringing their vision into reality.
Martin
and Summers conceived of the G20 in response to the series of massive debt
crises that had spread across emerging markets in the late 1990s, beginning
with the Mexican peso crisis and followed by the 1997 Asian financial crisis,
the 1998 Russian financial crisis, and eventually impacting the United States,
most prominently in the form of the collapse of the prominent hedge fund
Long-Term Capital Management in the autumn of 1998.[19][20][21] It illustrated
to them that in a rapidly globalizing world, the G7, G8, and the Bretton Woods
system would be unable to provide financial stability, and they conceived of a
new, broader permanent group of major world economies that would give a voice
and new responsibilities in providing it.[19][21]
The
G20 membership was decided by Eichel's deputy Caio
Koch-Weser and Summers's deputy Timothy Geithner. According to the political
economist Robert Wade:
"Geithner
and Koch-Weser went down the list of countries saying, Canada in, Portugal out,
South Africa in, Nigeria and Egypt out, and so on; they sent their list to the
other G7 finance ministries; and the invitations to the first meeting went
out."[23]
Early
topics[edit]
The
G20's primary focus has been governance of the global economy. Summit themes
have varied from year to year. The theme of the 2006 G20 ministerial meeting
was "Building and Sustaining Prosperity". The issues discussed
included domestic reforms to achieve "sustained growth", global
energy and resource commodity markets, reform of the World Bank and IMF, and
the impact of demographic changes.
In 2007,
South Africa hosted the secretariat with Trevor A. Manuel, South African
Minister of Finance as chairperson of the G20.
In
2008, Guido Mantega, Brazil's Minister of Finance,
was the G20 chairperson and proposed dialogue on competition in financial markets,
clean energy, economic development and fiscal elements of growth and
development.
On 11
October 2008 after a meeting of G7 finance ministers, US President George W.
Bush stated that the next meeting of the G20 would be important in finding
solutions to the burgeoning economic crisis of 2008.
Summits[edit]
The
Summit of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, who prepare the
leaders' summit and implement their decisions, was created as a response both
to the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and to a growing recognition that key
emerging countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic
discussion and governance. Additionally, G20 summits of heads of state or
government were held.
After
the 2008 debut summit in Washington, DC, G20 leaders met twice a year: in
London and Pittsburgh in 2009, and in Toronto and Seoul in 2010.[24]
Since
2011, when France chaired and hosted the G20, the summits have been held only
once a year.[25] The 2016 summit was held in Hangzhou, China,[26] the 2017
summit was held in Hamburg, Germany, the 2018 summit was held in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, the 2019 summit was held in Osaka, Japan, the 2020 summit was
scheduled in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia but it was held virtually due to Covid-19,
the 2021 summit was held in Rome, Italy and the 2022 summit was held in Bali,
Indonesia.
Several
other ministerial-level G20 meetings have been held since 2010. Agriculture
ministerial meetings were conducted in 2011 and 2012; meetings of foreign
ministers were held in 2012 and 2013; trade ministers met in 2012 and 2014, and
employment ministerial meetings have taken place annually since 2010.[27]
In
2012, the G20 Ministers of Tourism and Heads of Delegation of G20 member
countries and other invited States, as well as representatives from the World
Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and other
organisations in the Travel & Tourism sector met
in Mérida, Mexico, on May 16 at the 4th G20 meeting and focused on 'Tourism as
a means to Job Creation'. As a result of this meeting and The World Travel
& Tourism Council's Visa Impact Research, later on the Leaders of the G20,
convened in Los Cabos on 18–19 June, would recognise
the impact of Travel & Tourism for the first time. That year, the G20
Leaders Declaration added the following statement: "We recognise
the role of travel and tourism as a vehicle for job creation, economic growth
and development, and, while recognizing the sovereign right of States to
control the entry of foreign nationals, we will work towards developing travel
facilitation initiatives in support of job creation, quality work, poverty
reduction and global growth."[28]
In
March 2014, the former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop, when Australia
was hosting the 2014 G20 summit in Brisbane, proposed to ban Russia from the
summit over its annexation of Ukrainian Crimea.[29] The BRICS foreign ministers
subsequently reminded Bishop that "the custodianship of the G20 belongs to
all Member States equally and no one Member State can unilaterally determine
its nature and character."
In
2016, the G20 framed its commitment to the 2030 Agenda (Sustainable Development
Goals) in three key themes; the promotion of strong sustainable and balanced
growth; protection of the planet from degradation; and furthering co-operation
with low-income and developing countries. At the G20 Summit in Hangzhou,
members agreed on an action plan and issued a high level
principles document to member countries to help facilitate the agenda's
implementation.[30][31]
Japan
hosted the 2019 summit,[32] The 2020 summit was to be held in Saudi Arabia,[33]
but was instead held virtually on 21–22 November 2020 due to the COVID-19
pandemic under the presidency of Saudi Arabia. 2021 G20 Rome summit which was
held in Rome, the capital city of Italy, on 30–31 October 2021.
Indonesia
held the G20 presidency from 1 December 2021 to 30 November 2022. During its
presidency, Indonesia focused on the global COVID-19 pandemic and how to
collectively overcome the challenges related to it. The three priorities of
Indonesia's G20 presidency were global health architecture, digital
transformations, and sustainable energy transitions.[34]
India
has held the G20 presidency since 1 December 2022, with its presidency's theme
being Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
or "वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्"
in Sanskrit or translated as "One Earth, One Family, One Future'" in English.[A][35][36] and is to be concluded from 9 Sept to 10
Sept 2023 at Capital City Delhi.[37]
In an
interview on 26 August 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed optimism
about the G20 countries' evolving agenda under India's presidency, shifting
toward a human-centric development approach that aligns with the concerns of
the Global South, including addressing climate change, debt restructuring
through the G20's Common Framework for debt, and a strategy for regulation of
global cryptocurrencies.[38][39][40]
List
of summits[edit]
Main
article: List of G20 summits
G20
summit for year 2023 is hosted by India and conducted various meetings of
Governments official and various international organisations
at different place in India.
Chair
rotation[edit]
To
decide which member nation gets to chair the G20 leaders' meeting for a given
year, all members, except the European Union, are assigned to one of five
different groupings, with all but one group having four members, the other
having three. States from the same region are placed in the same group, except
Group 1 and Group 2. All countries within a group are eligible to take over the
G20 Presidency when it is their group's turn. Therefore, the states within the
relevant group need to negotiate among themselves to select the next G20
President. Each year, a different G20 member country assumes the presidency
starting from 1 December until 30 November. This system has been in place since
2010, when South Korea, which is in Group 5, held the G20 chair. The table
below lists the nations' groupings:[41][42]
Group
1 Group 2 Group 3 (Latin America) Group
4 (Western Europe) Group 5 (East
Asia)
• Australia
(2014)
• Canada
(2010-1)
• Saudi Arabia
(2020)
• United
States (2008, 2009-2) •
India (2023)
• Russia
(2013)
• South
Africa (2025)
• Turkey
(2015) • Argentina (2018)
• Brazil
(2024)
• Mexico
(2012) • France (2011)
• Germany
(2017)
• Italy
(2021)
• United
Kingdom (2009-1) •
China (2016)
• Indonesia
(2022)
• Japan
(2019)
• South
Korea (2010-2)
To
ensure continuity, the presidency is supported by a "troika" made up
of the current, immediate past and next host countries.[43]
Organization[edit]
The
G20 operates without a permanent secretariat or staff. The group's chair
rotates annually among the members and is selected from a different regional
grouping of countries. The incumbent chair establishes a temporary secretariat
for the duration of its term, which coordinates the group's work and organizes
its meetings. The 2021 summit was held in Italy. The 2022 summit was held in
Bali, Indonesia. India is the current chair and will host the 2023 summit.
Brazil will host the 2024 summit.[44]
Proposed
permanent secretariat[edit]
In
2010, President of France Nicolas Sarkozy proposed the establishment of a permanent
G20 secretariat, similar to the United Nations. Seoul and Paris were suggested
as possible locations for its headquarters.[45] Brazil and China supported the
establishment of a secretariat, while Italy and Japan expressed opposition to
the proposal.[45] South Korea proposed a "cyber secretariat" as an
alternative.[45] It has been argued that the G20 has been using the OECD as a
secretariat.[46]
Members[edit]
As of
2023, there are 20 members in the group: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada,
China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Mexico,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United
States, and the European Union. Guest invitees include, amongst others, Spain,
the United Nations, the World Bank, the African Union and ASEAN.[47][48]
Representatives
include, at the leaders' summits, the leaders of nineteen countries and of the
European Union, and, at the ministerial-level meetings, the finance ministers
and central bank governors of nineteen countries and of the European Union.
In
addition, each year, the G20's guests include Spain;[49] the Chair of ASEAN;
two African countries (the chair of the African Union and a representative of
the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)) and a country (sometimes
more than one) invited by the presidency, usually from its own
region.[5][50][51]
The
first of the tables below lists the member entities and their leaders, finance
ministers and central bank governors. The second table lists relevant statistics
such as population and GDP figures for each member, as well as detailing
memberships of other international organizations, such as the G7, BRICS and
MIKTA. Total GDP figures are given in millions of US dollars.
Leaders[edit]
Member Leader Finance
portfolio Portfolio minister Central
bank Central bank governor
Argentina
Alberto
Fernández
Minister
of Economy
Sergio
Massa
Central
Bank of the Argentine Republic
Miguel
Ángel Pesce
Australia
Anthony
Albanese
Treasurer
Jim
Chalmers
Reserve
Bank of Australia
Philip
Lowe
Brazil
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Minister
of Finance
Fernando
Haddad
Central
Bank of Brazil
Roberto
Campos Neto
Canada
Justin
Trudeau
Minister
of Finance
Chrystia Freeland
Bank
of Canada
Tiff Macklem
China
Xi Jinping[52]
Li Qiang[53][54]
Minister
of Finance
Liu Kun
People's
Bank of China
Pan Gongsheng
France
Emmanuel
Macron
Minister
of the Economy
Bruno
Le Maire
Bank
of France
François
Villeroy de Galhau
Germany
Olaf
Scholz
Minister
of Finance
Christian
Lindner
Deutsche
Bundesbank
Joachim
Nagel
India
Narendra
Modi
Minister
of Finance
Nirmala
Sitharaman
Reserve
Bank of India
Shaktikanta Das
Indonesia
Joko
Widodo
Minister
of Finance
Sri Mulyani
Bank
Indonesia
Perry
Warjiyo
Italy
Giorgia Meloni
Minister
of Economy and Finance
Giancarlo
Giorgetti
Bank
of Italy
Ignazio
Visco
Japan
Fumio
Kishida
Minister
of Finance
Shunichi
Suzuki
Bank
of Japan
Kazuo
Ueda
Mexico
Andrés
Manuel López Obrador
Secretary
of Finance and Public Credit
Rogelio
Ramírez de la O
Bank
of Mexico
Victoria
Rodríguez Ceja [es]
Russian Federation
Vladimir
Putin
Minister
of Finance
Anton
Siluanov
Bank
of Russia
Elvira
Nabiullina
Saudi Arabia
Salman
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Minister
of Finance
Mohammed
Al-Jadaan
Saudi
Central Bank
Fahad
Almubarak
South Africa
Cyril
Ramaphosa
Minister
of Finance
Enoch
Godongwana
South
African Reserve Bank
Lesetja
Kganyago
South Korea
Yoon
Suk-yeol
Minister
of Economy and Finance
Choo
Kyung-ho
Bank
of Korea
Rhee
Chang-yong
Turkey
Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan
Minister
of Treasury and Finance
Mehmet
Şimşek
Central
Bank of the Republic of Turkey
Hafize Gaye Erkan
United Kingdom
Rishi
Sunak
Chancellor
of the Exchequer
Jeremy
Hunt
Bank
of England
Andrew
Bailey
United States
Joe
Biden
Secretary
of the Treasury
Janet
Yellen
Federal
Reserve
Jerome
Powell
European Union[55]
Charles
Michel and
Ursula
von der Leyen
Commissioner
for Economy
Paolo
Gentiloni
European
Central Bank
Christine
Lagarde
ATTACHMENT TWO - From CNBC
G20 Summit 2023 Delhi Guest List | Who will arrive
in India when; Details here G20 Summit 2023: While US President Joe Biden is
likely to reach Delhi around 7 pm on Friday, Argentina President Alberto
Fernandes landed in the national capital early in the morning. By Parikshit
Luthra Sept 8, 2023 10:43:13 AM IST (Updated) 2 Min Read World leaders have
started arriving in New Delhi, India as the country is just hours away from
hosting the G20 (Group of 20) Leaders' Summit 2023 this weekend. While US
President Joe Biden is likely to reach Delhi around 7 pm on Friday, Argentina
President Alberto Fernández landed in the national capital early in the
morning. Here's the full of list G20 guests and the tentative time at which are
expected to land in India: > 6:20 am: Argentina President Alberto Fernández
> 8:50 am: Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni You May Like Lincoln Has Done It Again. This New
Lineup Has Left Us Speechless Lincoln Deals Click Here by Taboola Sponsored
Links > 11:45 am: South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa
> 12:30 pm: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina > 1:40 pm: UK Prime
Minister Rishi Sunak > 2:15 pm: Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida > 4:50
pm: Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Sau > 5:10 pm: South
Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol > 5:45 pm: Egypt
President Abdel Fattah > 6:15 pm: Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
> 6:55 pm: US President Joe Biden > 7:45 pm: Li Qiang,
Premier of the People’s Republic of China > 8 pm: UAE President Shaikh
Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan > 8:15 pm: Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte
> 8:45 pm: Brazil President Lula Da Silva > 9:15 pm: Indonesia President
Joko Widodo > 10:15 pm: Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
> 10:45 pm: Spain delegate is likely to attend the summit after Spanish President
Pedro Sánchez tests COVID positive The G20 summit will be held from September 9
to 10 at the newly built international convention and exhibition centre — Bharat Mandapam — at Pragati Maidan. During the
two days of the summit, a number of dignitaries will be visiting Rajghat to pay
homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial. Extensive preparations right from
sprucing up civic infrastructure to security were undertaken for the mega event
which is likely to be attended by more than 30 heads of state, top officials
from the European Union and invited guest countries, and 14 heads of
international organisations. First Published: Sept 8,
2023 10:06 AM
IST-https://www.cnbctv18.com/india/g20-summit-2023-delhi-guest-list-joe-biden-rishi-sunak-china-li-qiang-arrival-timings-india-details-here-17747651.htm
ATTACHMENT THREE - From CNN
US SAYS INDIA IS DISAPPOINTED XI AND PUTIN
AREN’T ATTENDING G-20, BUT BIDEN SEES IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY
By Kevin Liptak, CNN Updated 12:55 PM EDT, Fri September 8,
2023
New DelhiCNN —
President Joe Biden arrived
in India on Friday for a two-day summit at
a moment of division among the world’s leading economies, hoping to seize on an
opening created by the absence of the Russian and Chinese leaders.
Biden’s first order of business upon arriving was a one-on-one with
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence. Biden has sought to fully
embrace India as one of the most critical partnerships for the US in the 21st
century and a key regional ally to counter China.
White House officials called it “a disappointment” to India that Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will not participate
in this weekend’s summit, but added that the United States intends to use the summit as an
opportunity to strengthen relationships with the rest of the nations attending.
“I will say that I think for our Indian partners, there is substantial disappointment that they’re
not here and gratitude that we are,” deputy assistant to the president
and coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell told reporters shortly after Biden’s meeting with
Modi.
The White House still harbors deep concerns about Modi’s record on human
rights and what many view as democratic backsliding in India, including restrictions
on the press. As Biden was flying to New Delhi, officials
aboard Air Force One said India
had rebuffed US requests for any press access to the two leaders’ meeting.
“The leaders re-emphasized that the shared values of freedom, democracy,
human rights, inclusion, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens
are critical to the success our countries enjoy and that these values
strengthen our relationship,” a joint statement released after the meeting
read.
The leaders also announced a series of agreements on technology and trade
and hailed agreements on high-tech trade, including on semi-conductors, telecom
and computing. They also said they had settled the seventh and last outstanding
World Trade Organization dispute between India and the United States.
Modi also “looked forward to welcoming President Biden to the next Quad Leaders’ Summit to be hosted by
India in 2024.”
After the meeting,
officials celebrated the improving relationship between India and the United
States – describing it as “completely turned around” – but say Biden still pushed Modi on the state of democracy in his
country.
“In every meeting that I’ve been in with the President, the president’s
very clear about the importance of the health of democracy,” Campbell said. “He
doesn’t do this in such a way that suggests that one country is lecturing to
another but rather that we all face shared challenges and we think it’s
important that we’re constantly asking the hard questions about our democracy.”
Campbell said Biden made “very clear” to Modi that democracy is “a important issue in our bilateral
relationship.” Biden also had a “private interaction” with Modi and did “not
shy away from hard challenges,” but that the president “begins from a platform
of trust and confidence.”
“India continues to
be a work in progress, and I think the key here is for us to maintain a
respectful dialogue and to approach some of the challenges with a degree of
humility given some of the challenges that we’ve faced in our own country as
well by link,” Campbell said. 3,000 year old India?
Biden isn’t aiming to paper over the fractures during his time in New
Delhi. But with an eye toward countering China,
he does hope to convince a splintered world the United States remains a
committed and valuable partner.
He arrives as polling in the United States shows strong headwinds in his
bid for reelection; a CNN
survey released the day of his departure showed two-thirds of
Democrat-leaning voters don’t want Biden as the 2024 nominee.
Biden’s advisers believe his activities on the global stage can help
provide a contrast with Republicans, and his campaign released a television ad
Thursday highlighting his visit to Ukraine earlier this year.
But Biden’s shaky political standing has nonetheless left fellow leaders,
particularly in Europe, wondering what the next year will portend and whether
Biden’s pledges of a robust US role in the world will be sustained.
In New Delhi, Biden is
hoping to make the argument that the United States can act as a better partner
for developing countries than China.
He has an unexpected opening to make his case: Chinese President Xi Jinping is
skipping this weekend’s summit, his first time missing a G20 since taking
office in 2012.
While that is a lost opportunity in some ways – Biden and Xi met for
hours at last year’s G20 in Bali – it also frees the stage for the US to make
its argument for American partnerships.
At a moment when the
very fragile state of China’s economy is causing deep concern about global
ripple effects, Biden hopes to use the relative strength of the American market
to make his pitch. Campbell said there were “undeniable
opportunities” for the US at the summit given the leaders who will be attending
– and those who won’t.
“I think we fully intend to strengthen and deepen our relationship, and
we leave it to China in particular to discuss and explain while why they are
not here. It’s really their business,” he said.
He isn’t arriving empty handed. He comes armed with proposals to reform
and step up investments in the World Bank, leveraging
US funds to free up hundreds of billions of dollars in new grants and loans for
the developing world.
The White House insists the steps are not about countering Beijing.
“It’s not just a question of responding to China, it’s a question of
addressing long standing global challenges, reducing poverty,” US Treasury
Secretary Janet Yellen said at a morning briefing in New Delhi.
Still, the White House has argued institutions like the World Bank can
provide an alternative to what they say are China’s coercive lending practices.
Ahead of Biden’s arrival, officials were hurriedly working to draft joint
declarations that could be signed off on by the summit’s end. But the talks
have been difficult, according to diplomats, and reflected the wide divides
within the G20 over the most contentious global issues.
As diplomats continue wrangling over language to include in a final
leaders’ statement, Campbell sought to downplay the process.
“This is the way it always goes. It comes down to this,” he said. “We are
finding that on many of the issues that matter to us, we are making progress.
There’s clearly been some forward movement on climate.”
“It’s the last moment when things come together,” he said. “And look, I
will tell you that the American team is extraordinarily competent and able and
we’ve got some willing interlocutors, we’ll see what’s possible.”
While Biden has been successful in rallying support in the West for
Ukraine, he hasn’t necessarily been as persuasive among leaders in the
so-called Global South, including India, Brazil and South Africa.
Failure to agree on shared language could prove a major disappointment
for the host of this year’s summit, Modi, who has worked to center the
discussions here on the developing world but also bolster his stature as global
statesman.
Modi’s face has been plastered around New Delhi welcoming delegates to
the G20 and announcing the theme: “One Earth, One Family, One Future.”
ATTACHMENT
FOUR - From Time
HOW INDIA AND THE U.S. SUCCEEDED AT THE G20 WITHOUT CHINA’S XI
BY ALAN
CRAWFORD AND SYLVIA WESTALL / BLOOMBERG SEPTEMBER 10, 2023 11:15 PM EDT
Xi
Jinping’s decision to stay
away from the Group of 20 summit may have been
intended to deny India its moment. Instead, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi — along with the U.S. and Europe — figured out how to more
effectively counter China on the world stage.
Fellow G20 nations hailed India’s success in reaching agreement on a
joint communiqué that remained in
doubt just days before world leaders gathered in New Delhi for
their most significant annual diplomatic event. Apart from finding consensus on
Russia’s war in Ukraine, the most difficult issue, they also elevated the
African Union as a full G20 member and took action on issues like climate
change and debt sustainability that are priorities of emerging markets.
The final outcome irked Ukraine, which saw the compromise on war language
as weaker than what leaders produced just 10 months ago in
Bali, Indonesia. But for the U.S. and its allies, criticism of a
communiqué that on substance was similar to Bali and has little impact on the
ground is a small price to pay for giving Modi a win that bolsters India’s
status as a rising power capable of blunting China’s global influence.
U.S. President Joe Biden led the charge, seeing in India his
administration’s best hope of isolating China and Russia — and providing a
booster shot to the U.S.-led world order. The result showed that Washington is
finally learning the language of the so-called Global South, with India as its principle guide.
“Some commentators are
pointing to watered-down language on Russia-Ukraine as a sign of Western
‘climbdown,’” said Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “But there’s another way of looking
at it: The West is also invested in making sure India got a win. A lack of
consensus would have been a huge disappointment for India.” What
about the UKES? - DJI
If there was a moment that illustrated the summit dynamics, it was
Biden’s meeting on Saturday to discuss White House-led efforts to deliver more
financing to developing nations.
Along with World Bank President Ajay Banga, the first Indian American to
hold the role, Biden was pictured with Modi, Brazil’s Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa —
key members of the BRICS grouping, minus China and Russia. That bloc expanded
earlier this month, posing a challenge for the Group of Seven advanced economies.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer
swiped at China by referring to those nations as “the three democratic members
of the BRICS,” saying they and the U.S. were all committed to the G20’s
success. “And if China is not, that’s unfortunate for everyone,” Finer said.
“But much more unfortunate, we believe, for China.”
And the U.S. didn’t stop there. It separately announced a deal with
India, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Israel and other Middle Eastern
countries to develop an ambitious rail and maritime network across the region.
Biden hailed it as a “game-changing regional investment,” cementing the deal
with a three-way handshake that included Modi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, who the U.S. president had cast as a “pariah” ahead of the last
American election.
That kind of pronouncement is more likely to appeal to Middle East
interests than badgering over human rights, even if the project’s time line and
funding remains vague. The U.S. denied it was meant to counter China’s growing
influence in the Gulf, but a French official acknowledged it was designed to
provide competition for Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying that wasn’t
a bad thing.
“I want to see China succeed economically,” Biden told reporters Sunday
in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he flew after the G20. “But I want to see them succeed
by the rules.”
Xi’s move to skip the G20 summit for the first time since he became
president in 2013 marked a shift in behavior from last November, when he cast
himself as a statesman with a responsibility to “get along with other
countries.” China’s negotiators also risked appearing petty in looking to
thwart India’s progress, taking a stand on minor issues like Modi’s use of a
Sanskrit phrase and the U.S.’s bid to host the G20 gathering in 2026. The
Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party, called the U.S.
“just a copycat” for its Mideast infrastructure plan.
In a further blow to Beijing, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia
Meloni told Premier Li Qiang
on the sidelines of the summit that her nation plans to withdraw from the BRI
while still looking to maintain friendly relations, according to a person
familiar with the matter who asked not to be named. At a press conference after
the G20, Meloni said she spoke to Li, representing
China in Xi’s absence, about the BRI but a decision had yet to be made.
Going into the summit, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak accused China
of acting as a brake on progress toward a joint statement. At one point in the
deliberations behind closed doors, Beijing raised the issue of access to
semiconductors in a discussion of climate action, people familiar with the
talks said. That prompted National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan — a leading
advocate of U.S. export controls on chips and chip technology to China — to
decry “the idea of holding climate hostage” to unrelated issues.
China’s Li told leaders that the G20 “needs unity instead of division,
cooperation instead of confrontation,” the official Xinhua News Agency
reported. That followed a commentary posted hours earlier by a Chinese think
tank affiliated with the country’s top spy agency, which criticized India for
having “sabotaged the atmosphere for cooperation” at the G20 by pushing its own
agenda.
But China relented on its opposition to the communiqué, and India drew
praise from all camps for negotiating a compromise. People familiar with the
discussions said the breakthrough occurred after India, Indonesia, Brazil and
South Africa jointly put forward a proposal on language describing the war.
“This consensus itself shows the cemented role of India as a trustworthy
fulcrum of a world bitterly divided on geopolitical issues like the Ukraine
war,” said Swasti Rao, an associate fellow at the
Europe and Eurasia Center at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies
and Analyses. “There is little doubt that middle order powers wish to keep the
global economic order multipolar and not fall into the Chinese game of
dominating it.”
While the final language on Ukraine made some U.S. allies uneasy,
supporting the compromise presented a bigger opportunity to align more closely
with major democracies in the Global South that ultimately serve as key swing
nations when it comes to Russia’s war and other world issues. G7 leaders publicly
praised the outcome, with Sunak insisting that the language adopted was “very
strong” and that “Russia is completely isolated.”
‘Just and durable’
For the U.S., any move that bolsters India and amplifies other
democracies in the Global South helps to counter China and Russia’s influence,
particularly when it comes to bringing about the G20’s call for a
“comprehensive, just and durable peace” in Ukraine. Back in May at the G7
summit in Japan, the U.S. and its allies struggled to convince Modi, Lula and Indonesia’s Joko
Widodo to side with them on Ukraine, even after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a surprise appearance. Zelenskiy
wasn’t invited to address India’s G20.
A senior European Union official said the agreement effectively saved the
G20 as the last global forum bringing together the world’s major powers.
Moreover, the official said, it helped bridge the gap between the G-7 and
emerging markets, who would now be partners in holding Russia to account if it
doesn’t follow through on seeking a just peace in line with UN principles.
Other senior European officials said China shot itself in the foot by
staying away from the summit, allowing India to cement its leadership of the
Global South and providing the U.S. and Europe a clear path to strengthen ties
with emerging markets.
Even Russia, represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after Vladimir
Putin stayed home, saw the agreement as a win. Moscow was pleased that BRICS
democracies served as interlocutors with the G7, according to a person familiar
with the situation, underscoring China’s status as an outsider looking in.
The U.S., of course, could yet stumble in its bid to appeal more to the
Global South. Ahead of the G20, Biden skipped a summit in Indonesia hosted by
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a move that appeared like a snub to
Widodo. The U.S. president sought to do damage control in Delhi, meeting the
Indonesian leader briefly and pledging to meet him at the White House in
November, when world leaders head to the U.S. for the APEC summit.
More significantly, however, was India’s ability to grasp the moment to
assert a global leadership role. Modi — who is on pace to extend his decade in
power next year — declared that “history has been created” while his chief
negotiator, Amitabh Kant, called India “the spokesperson of all the Global
South.”
“More than anything else, it has amplified the voice of Global South,”
Kant said of the summit outcome. “It has also demonstrated that India has a
huge capacity of bringing the world together and leading the world in
developmental and geopolitical issues.”
—With assistance from Samy Adghirni,
Selcan Hacaoglu, Alex
Wickham, Philip J. Heijmans, Akayla
Gardner, Justin Sink, Ruchi Bhatia, Alberto Nardelli, Jorge Valero, Michael
Nienaber, Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Jing Li and Simone
Iglesias.
ATTACHMENT FIVE – From
ATTACHMENT SIX – From Reuters
G20
draft declaration leaves paragraph on Ukraine blank
By Shivangi Acharya, Sarita Chaganti Singh and Nikunj Ohri
September 8, 20233:10 PM EDTUpdated
2 hours ago
·
Wording on Ukraine war
unresolved - draft
·
Sherpas leave the paragraph on
geopolitics blank - draft
·
G20 summit to be dominated by
West with Xi, Putin absent
·
New Delhi decked up, business district shut down for meet
NEW DELHI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - G20 negotiators were
unable to resolve disagreements over the wording of the summit declaration on
the war in Ukraine on Friday, according to a draft seen by Reuters, leaving any
possible breakthrough to bloc leaders during the two-day meeting.
The 38-page
draft that was circulated among members left the "geopolitical
situation" paragraph blank, while it had agreed on the 75 other paragraphs
which included climate change, cryptocurrencies and reforms in multilateral
development banks.
G20 sherpas have been struggling for days to
agree on the language because of differences over the war, hoping to get Russia
on board to produce a communique.
India's G20 sherpa, or negotiator, Amitabh Kant, said earlier in the day the "New Delhi
Leaders' Declaration is almost ready, I would not like to dwell on it
... This declaration will be recommended to the leaders."
One source told Reuters a joint declaration may or
may not come to a unanimous agreement. It could have different paragraphs
stating the views of different countries. Or it could record agreement and
dissent in one paragraph.
"We may paper over the differences and make a
general statement saying we should have peace and harmony across the world so
that everybody agrees," a second source said.
According to another senior source in one of the G20
countries, the paragraphs on the war on Ukraine had been agreed by Western
countries and was sent to Russia for its views.
The official said Russia had the option to accept
the Western countries' views and give its dissent as a part of the statement.
In the absence of an agreement, India will have to issue a chair statement,
which would mean that G20 for the first time in 20 years of summits will not
have a declaration.
An EU diplomat said India was doing an
"excellent" job as host in looking for compromises.
"But so far Russia is blocking a compromise
that is acceptable otherwise for everyone else."
The document showed that the group agreed to address
debt vulnerabilities in
low and middle-income countries "in an effective, comprehensive and
systematic manner", but did not make any fresh action plan.
The draft also shows countries pledged to strengthen
and reform multilateral development banks, while it accepted the proposal for
tighter regulations of cryptocurrencies.
It also agreed
that the world needs a total of $4 trillion low-cost financing annually for
energy transition.
On Friday, the streets of the usually bustling
capital New Delhi were deserted with businesses, offices and schools closed
as part of security measures to ensure the smooth running of the
most high-powered meeting to be hosted by the country.
Slums have been demolished and monkeys and stray dogs have been removed from the streets.
XI, PUTIN MISSING
The two-day summit that starts on Saturday in New Delhi
is expected to be dominated by the West and its allies. Chinese President Xi
Jinping is skipping the meeting and sending Premier Li Qiang
instead, while Russia's Vladimir Putin will also be absent.
U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz,
French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Saudi
Arabia's Mohammed Bin Salman and Japan's Fumio Kishida, among others, will
attend.
The hardened
stance on the war has prevented agreement on even a single communique at the ministerial
meetings during India's G20 presidency so far this year, leaving it to the
leaders to find a way around, if possible.
China said on Friday it is willing to work with all
parties and push for a positive outcome at the summit.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made
the remarks after a media report said Sunak blamed China for
delaying an agreement on various issues, including Ukraine.
In New Delhi, Sunak said that it was not his place
to tell India what stand it should take on the war in Ukraine.
"It's not for me to tell India what positions
to take on international issues, but I know India rightly cares about the
international rule of law, the UN Charter and respect for territorial
integrity," Sunak told Indian news agency ANI.
India has avoided blaming Moscow for the war and has
called for a solution through dialogue and diplomacy. The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Sunak would urge his Indian
counterpart to "call out" Russia on its February 2022 invasion.
SHOWCASING INDIA
Modi's government is projecting India's presidency
of the group and the summit as a showcase for the country's fast-growing
economy and its rising position in the geo-political pecking order.
New Delhi has
been decked up for the gathering with a brand new
summit venue, fountains, flowerpots and illumination along major thoroughfares,
alongside thousands of armed security personnel standing guard.
More than 100 Tibetan refugees staged a protest away from the city centre on Friday, demanding that the "occupation"
of their country by China be discussed during the summit.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier said
Washington was willing to work with India to help craft a communique at
the end of the summit but it would be a challenge.
The draft did not talk about a fossil fuel
phase-down.
U.N.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said G20 leaders have the power to reset
a climate crisis that is "spinning out of control" and urged them to
reshape global financial rules which he described as outdated and unfair.
"The
climate crisis is worsening dramatically – but the collective response is lacking
in ambition, credibility, and urgency," Guterres said in a speech.
ATTACHMENT SEVEN – From the Guardian UK
LULA BACKPEDALS ON SUGGESTION PUTIN COULD ATTEND G20
WITHOUT FEAR OF ARREST
Comments were at odds with Brazil foreign minister’s
statement that Putin could face ‘issues’ if he traveled to any ICC member state
Tom
Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Mon
11 Sep 2023 10.37 EDT
The Brazilian
president, Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva, has rowed back on comments suggesting Vladimir Putin
would be able to attend next year’s G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro without fear
of arrest.
The
international criminal court (ICC) has issued a warrant for the Russian
leader’s arrest for alleged war crimes in Ukraine and, as a signatory of the
Rome statute, Brazil is duty-bound to cooperate with the court. But on Saturday
Lula raised eyebrows by telling an Indian interviewer there was “no reason”
Putin would be detained if he travelled to the November 2024
summit in Brazil.
The comments were at odds with a statement by
Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, earlier this year that Putin could
face “issues” if he travelled to any ICC member state.
The US can rebuild trust
abroad – by declassifying incriminating intelligence
On Monday, Lula backtracked after an outcry. “If
Putin decides to go to Brazil, it’s the
justice system that will take the decision over whether he should be arrested,
not the government or congress,” the 77-year-old leftwinger
told reporters. “I didn’t even know this court existed,” he added of the ICC.
Lula has irked western leaders who support Ukraine’s
fight against Russia with his refusal to take a clear side in the war or supply
Kyiv with weapons. Lula has attempted to position himself as a potential peace
broker between Moscow and Kyiv, arguing some countries must remain “neutral” if
peace is to be achieved.
“I think everyone is starting to realize that
humanity is growing tired of this war, people are growing tired,” Lula told a
press conference on Monday.
However, many suspect Brazil’s reluctance to take
Ukraine’s side is partly explained by its heavy reliance on Russian fertilizer
for its powerful agribusiness sector. About a quarter of the South American
country’s fertilizer imports come from Russia.
On Saturday Lula said he planned to attend next
year’s Brics summit in Russia, before the G20. Lula’s far-right
predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, visited Putin in Moscow just days before Russia
invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Oliver Stuenkel, an
international relations specialist from the Getúlio
Vargas Foundation in São Paulo, called Lula’s comments about not arresting
Putin “damaging and unnecessary”. “Putin was never going to come to Brazil
anyways,” he wrote on
X, formerly known as Twitter. “[And] rather than projecting himself as the
elder statesman, Lula came across as inexperienced and ignorant.”
ATTACHMENT EIGHT – From Al Jazeera
BRAZIL’S LULA BACKTRACKS ON PUTIN ARREST SAFETY
AT RIO G20
Brazilian president faces criticism after saying ‘no way’ Vladimir Putin
would be arrested in Brazil under ICC warrant.
Published On 11 Sep 202311 Sep 2023
Brazil’s
leader has withdrawn his personal
assurance that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be
arrested if he attends next year’s Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, saying
it would be up to the judiciary to decide.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also questioned
Brazil’s membership in the United Nations war crimes court, saying on Monday
that “emerging countries often sign things that are detrimental to them”.
“I
want to know why we are members but not the United States, not Russia, not
India, not China,” Lula said.
“I’m not saying I’m going to leave the court.
I just want to know why Brazil is a signatory.”
Putin
missed this year’s G20 gathering in the Indian capital, New Delhi, avoiding
possible criticism over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and any risk of criminal
detention under an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.
The
ICC announced the
arrest warrant for Putin in March over the Russian president’s
suspected involvement in the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from
occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
The Kremlin
has denied the war crime accusation, insisting the warrant against Putin is
“void”.
Russia
also issued an arrest warrant
in May for Karim Khan, the prosecutor at The Hague-based war crimes
court, who also has been added to the “wanted list” of the Russian Ministry of
Internal Affairs.
Brazil
is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which led to the founding of the ICC and
obliges members to comply with its arrest warrants.
Lula
raised eyebrows at the weekend when he told Indian news network Firstpost: “If I’m the president of Brazil and if he
[Putin] comes to Brazil, there’s no way
that he will be arrested.”
Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio
Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo, said the Brazilian president’s comments were
“damaging and unnecessary”.
“Rather
than projecting himself as the elder statesman, Lula came across as
inexperienced and ignorant,” Stuenkel wrote on social
media.
Amid the
criticism, Lula changed tack on Monday at a press conference in Brazil, telling
reporters that he didn’t know if Putin would be detained in the South American
nation.
“It’s
the judiciary that decides, it’s not the government,” Lula said.
Putin
has skipped recent international gatherings and sent his Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov to New Delhi instead for the September 9-10 G20 meeting, even
though India is not an ICC signatory.
On
Saturday, the G20 nations adopted a declaration that avoided condemning Moscow
for the war in Ukraine but called on all states to refrain from using force to
grab territory.
The next
summit is slated for November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro and Lula said he hoped “by
then the war is
over”.
ATTACHMENT NINE – From Al Jazeera
INDIA’S MODI GOV’T REPLACES COUNTRY’S NAME
WITH BHARAT IN G20 DINNER INVITE
The government replaces India with a Sanskrit word in dinner invitations sent
to guests attending this week’s summit, causing an uproar.
Published On 5 Sep 20235 Sep 2023
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s government has replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word in
dinner invitations sent to guests attending this week’s Group of 20 (G20)
summit, triggering speculation that the name of the country will be officially
changed.
Droupadi Murmu is referred to as “President of Bharat” instead of
“President of India” in the invitation sent to G20 attendees on Tuesday.
KEEP READING
list of
4 itemslist 1 of 4
India’s opposition parties to
jointly contest 2024 elections against Modi
list 2
of 4
World’s biggest cricket
stadium renamed after India’s Modi
list 3
of 4
Modi’s lesson from Israel:
Demolish Muslim homes, erase their history
list 4
of 4
G20 in India: When will 2023
New Delhi summit be held and who is attending?
end of
list
India
is hosting the
annual G20 summit in New Delhi on Saturday and Sunday. Many
world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel
Macron, will attend.
The
nation of more than 1.4 billion people is officially known by two names, India
and Bharat, but the former is most commonly used, both domestically and
internationally. Hindustan is another word for the nation and is often used in
literature and other forms of popular culture.
Bharat is
an ancient Sanskrit word that many historians believe dates back to early Hindu
texts. The word is also used as a Hindi option for India.
Officials
of Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
back the change in nomenclature. They argue that the name India was introduced
by British colonials and is a “symbol of slavery”. The British ruled India for
about 200 years until the country gained independence in 1947.
The BJP
has long tried to erase names related to India’s Mughal and colonial past. The
government has been accused of pursuing a nationalist agenda aimed at forming
an ethnic Hindu state out of a constitutionally secular India.
In 2015,
New Delhi’s famous Aurangzeb Road, named after a Mughal king, was changed to Dr
APJ Abdul Kalam Road after protests from Modi’s party leaders.
Last
year, the government also renamed a colonial-era avenue in the heart of New
Delhi that is used for ceremonial military parades.
Modi’s
government says the name changes are an effort to reclaim India’s Hindu past.
“Another
blow to slavery mentality,” the top elected official of Uttarakhand state,
Pushkar Singh Dhami, said on X. Dhami,
a BJP leader, shared the G20 dinner invitation in his post.
India’s
opposition parties, however, criticised the
government’s move.
“Rashtrapati Bhawan [President’s House] has sent out an
invite for a G20 dinner on Sept 9th in the name of ‘President of Bharat’
instead of the usual ‘President of India’,” Jairam Ramesh, leader of the main
opposition party, the Indian National Congress, wrote on Tuesday on X, formerly
known as Twitter.
“Now,
Article 1 in the Constitution can read: ‘Bharat, that was India, shall be a
Union of States.’ But now even this ‘Union of States’ is under assault,” he
added.
Congress
legislator Shashi Tharoor said Indians should “continue to use both words
rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world”.
“While
there is no constitutional objection to calling India ‘Bharat’, which is one of
the country’s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish
as to completely dispense with ‘India’, which has incalculable brand value
built up over centuries,” he posted on X.
BJP
President Jagat Prakash Nadda slammed the Congress party.
“Why
does the Congress have so much objection to every subject related to the honour and pride of the country?” he posted on X. “It is
clear that Congress neither respects the country, nor the Constitution, nor the
constitutional institutions.”
Disputes
over “India” vs “Bharat” have gained ground since opposition parties in July
announced a new alliance –
called the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA – to
unseat Modi and defeat his party in of national elections in 2024.
Since
then, some officials in Modi’s party have demanded that the country be called
Bharat instead of India.
Many
Indian media outlets, citing sources, on Tuesday reported that the government
might bring a resolution to that effect during a special parliament session
this month.
However,
the government has not revealed the agenda for the session to be held September
18-22.
ATTACHMENT TEN – From GUK
THE US SHOULD NOT NORMALIZE MODI’S AUTOCRATIC AND
ILLIBERAL INDIA AT THE G20
Despite his
lip-service to democracy and human rights, Biden keeps embracing autocrats and
would-be autocrats
By Jason
Stanley Fri 8 Sep 2023 06.05 EDT
December 2021, President Joe Biden hosted an event
billed as a “Summit for Democracy”. Biden opened his address to the summit by
describing his motivation for holding it: “in the face of sustained and
alarming challenges … democracy needs champions”.
Narendra Modi has ignored
religious violence for too long. Now he must face the music
By Priya
Sharma
Since that time
Biden has embraced, as allies, autocrats and would-be autocrats all over the
world, including the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who US
intelligence has said was responsible for the brutal murder of the Washington
Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. More recently, Biden invited Benjamin
Netanyahu, who is presiding over the destruction of Israel’s democracy by
targeting its judicial system, for an official visit to the United States.
Biden is right that there is an ever-larger club of backsliding democracies,
with the US among them.
And the American president is not the only openly hypocritical leader in this
club. In fact, he is not even close to the worst offender.
This September, India is hosting G20 leaders under
the banner of “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. As a part of the transition
to India’s assumption of this position, Narendra Modi, India’s
prime minister, has leaned heavily on these themes in promoting India as an
inclusive, emerging global power.
Yet behind these lofty ideals lies a very different,
and dangerous, reality.
Those in
Modi’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata party
(BJP), are hardline Hindu nationalists. Their ideology holds that India was originally
a pure Hindu state, with minorities, such
as India’s large Muslim population, the supposed result of colonization by
outside forces.
The hallmarks of fascism are everywhere. School
textbooks are being rewritten to
reinforce the fake history behind BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda. Topics like
the theory of evolution and the periodic table have been replaced with
traditional Hindu theories, and academics have been silenced for
calling out the BJP’s election malpractices. The government has weaponized education in the manner
typical of fascist regimes such as Russia.
There are other clear indications of India’s slide towards fascism. On press freedom, India ranks 161st out of 180 countries,
sandwiched between Venezuela (at 159) and Russia (at 164).
Modi and the BJP have proven themselves to be fluent
hypocrites on the world stage. Under the banner of anticolonialism, the party is replicating Britain’s
colonial practices.
In 2005 Modi, then the chief minister of Gujarat, was
denied entry to the US because of his role in ethnic violence that left over
1,000 people dead, the vast majority of them Muslims. According to a recently declassified
report from the British Foreign Office, the Hindu mobs’ “systematic campaign of violence has all the
hallmarks of ethnic cleansing” and “Narendra Modi is directly responsible.”
He’s much more powerful now, but the playbook
remains the same. India’s minorities face lynchings and
the bulldozing of their homes, among other abuses.
Ten percent of the world’s
Muslims live in India, over 200 million in all; as Gregory Stanton, the founder
and director of Genocide Watch, has warned in
a US congressional briefing, we are seeing in India the beginning of what would
be by far the largest genocide in history.
Modi and the BJP have proven themselves to be fluent
hypocrites on the world stage. Under the banner of anticolonialism, the party is replicating Britain’s
colonial practices
And it’s not just Muslims who are at risk. In Manipur, over 150 people have been
killed since May 2023 in a vicious ethnic conflict pitting
Hindus against Christians. More broadly, since Modi took over in 2014, hate
crimes against minorities have increased by
300%.
History tells us that this is how it works. Fascism
grants the dominant majority special status, targeting national minorities by
threatening their equal citizenship. In 2019, India passed a Citizenship
Amendment Act that granted a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslims who lack documentation as citizens.
The National Registry Act, already implemented in the Indian state of Assam, is
a seemingly contradictory effort to expel illegal immigrants. It demands that
residents provide proof of their citizenship in India, essentially a birth
certificate, or face expulsion. Yet 38% of Indian children under five lack a birth certificate.
This tangle of laws exemplifies the blatant
hypocrisy of India’s ruling party, leaving India poised to disenfranchise much
of its Muslim population.
Nor is the problem only domestic. Since Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, India
has become one of the world’s largest importers of Russian oil – essentially
propping up Russia’s occupation and genocide of its peaceful neighbor.
Genocidal regimes support one another, in an alliance of evil, and the rest of
the world must stand against them.
So, has the US been listening? The answer is clearly
no. In June, Biden gave Modi’s visit a red-carpet treatment. Jack Kirby, a US
national security official, has made light of
objections to Modi, declaring that “India is a vibrant democracy. Anybody that,
you know, happens to go to New Delhi can see that for themselves.” With
America’s help, the G20 platforms BJP’s transparently hypocritical embrace of
humanitarian and liberal ideals.
The US public and their leaders are paying
attention, at least somewhat, to Russia’s genocide in Ukraine. But the collective
shrug at a potentially vast genocide in India (as well as the ongoing genocide
in Sudan) raises an obvious concern: is the US public’s standard for this crime
much higher when black and brown people face the threat?
·
Jason Stanley is a professor of philosophy at Yale
University, and the author, most recently, of How Fascism Works: The Politics
of Us and Them
ATTACHMENT ELEVEN – From the Jerusalem Post
WHAT ARE THE KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE G-20 SUMMIT
IN NEW DELHI? - ANALYSIS
Two central initiatives were
announced with great fanfare. Neither was new, but both are now prioritized and
moving forward full throttle.
By YESHAYA
ROSENMAN Published: SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 14:46
NEW
DELHI - The 2023 Indian Presidency turned the lead-up to the G20 into an
11-month festival highlighting the rise of Indian power. Two hundred
Conferences were held in 60 cities in every Indian state to create what Chief
Coordinator, Harsh V. Shringla, called a “Grassroots
Participation Movement”.
Three
themes dominated the Indian messaging from the moment India assumed the
presidency on Dec. 1, 2022, up to the Sep 9-10 summit: Development,
inclusivity, and the asserting of indigenous Indian identity.
Indian
technological achievements were showcased in a special display hall at the
summit, to be opened to the public subsequently. Indian pride swelled for
technologies that service the entire nation of 1.4 billion: The UPI touchless
payment app, Aadhar digital ID cards that enable Indians to open their first
bank account and receive government benefit schemes without paying bribes,
online schoolbooks, healthcare data, and Covid monitoring. India intends to
export many of these technologies, and in the era of AI, they realize that data
sets of 1.4 billion people are a goldmine of their own.
An
important economic corridor was announced at the G20 which links India via the
Middle East and Europe to Europe. Despite warm personal relations between India’s Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel was
not invited to the G20 as an observer state, while Egypt, UAE, and Oman were
among the invitees.
In the
name of inclusivity, there was much talk about development in the “Global
South”. PM Modi made a point of ensuring the African Union was invited to the
G-20 summit. The Sanskrit maxim “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” - The world is one family – was constantly
evoked by Indian officials, and the G-20 theme was “One Earth, One Family, One
Future”.
Indigenous
Indian identity was an even more ubiquitous theme. The Sanskrit name Bharat,
rather than India, appeared on the table by PM Modi’s seat. It is yet unclear
whether India will officially change its name.
A crafts
fair at the summit showcased traditional art. Chrome leaflets showcased yoga,
and Ayurveda medicine, and even declared India to be the mother of Democracy,
with indigenous democratic principles extending back to Vedic times. Opposition
media pounced on this theme as uneducational, fake
history.
Although
official voices did not dwell on it, the theme of indigenous Indian identity carries
anti-European undertones. Under the rubric of de-colonizing the Indian
mentality, Indian Nationalists of Modi’s BJP government are making a statement
that they will now determine their destiny and stop obeying orders from white
men.
Two G-20 Summit Initiatives
Two
central initiatives were announced with great fanfare. Neither was new, but
both are now prioritized and moving forward full throttle.
At
center stage was the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor. The proposed corridor
will carry Indian goods to Europe from the port of Mumbai to the port of Jebel
Ali port in UAE, and from there by freight trains via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and
Israel, to the Indian-owned port at Haifa and from there to Europe, most
probably to the Chinese owned port at Piraeus, Greece. This route will cut
transport time down by forty percent.
The
corridor will also include gas pipelines, hydrogen energy pipelines,
electricity cables, and fiber-optic cables.
Funding details
have yet to be finalized, but USA and EU countries have pledged, and the
official MOU states that parties will meet again within 60 days to lay out a
timetable for the corridor’s projects.
The
second initiative was the Trans-African Corridor between the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Angola aimed at improving the transport of raw
materials including copper ore.
Between the lines of The Joint Declaration
The 37
pages of the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration are a rosy document that seems
to promise a plot in Eden for all mankind. The leaders of the G-20’s 40
delegations: 19 largest economies, the EU, the African Union, 9 observer
nations, and 10 international organizations, all pledged to toil for the
world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), green development, technological
transformation, gender equality, and much more. The statements and speeches of
the world leaders at the two-day summit echoed these themes.
But
reading between the lines of the document and the speeches and cross-referencing
the two key initiatives announced at the summit reveals the greater forces at
play. They could always not be mentioned by name, but they haunted the summit
constantly.
The
first present absence was Russia, and its leader, Vladimir Putin, was
absent from the summit. Beginning with a pre-summit speech by US Secretary of
Treasury, Janet Yellen, televised from the US embassy, world leaders engaged
time and again in diplomatic exorcism, attacking Russia for waging an
aggressive war that harmed crucial global food security, including dramatic
damage to grain and fertilizer supplies from Russia and Ukraine.
The few
notable exceptions to the rule included Turkey, South Africa, and the host India, which is
dependent on Russia for cheap energy and weapons. While pro-American
sentiment is rising in India, this dependence will not end in the foreseeable
future, leading India to
obstruct and defy any sanctions placed on Russia. The drama around Russia was
so intense that there was initial doubt if a joint declaration would be issued,
due to India insisting on what was perceived as language too forgiving toward
Russia.
Another
presence in the room was China, whose President
Xi Jinping was absent as well from the summit. Time and again
world leaders rose and heaped praises on India and lauded the revolutionary
potential of the corridor initiatives. And while it was clear to all those present what the
revolution was, who was staging it, and against whom, only journalists could
say it out loud. Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper The
Print tweeted it out succinctly: “India-Middle East-Europe Corridor is a
brilliant idea…It throws a gauntlet at Xi Jinping & his BRI (Belt and Road
Initiative). Finally (India) has a counter”.
India was not only breaking out of a Chinese
stranglehold. To quote Gutpa’s next tweet: “Besides
challenging China’s BRI, the Ind-ME-Europe Corridor lays down stark choices for
Pakistan. If it wants to join the global mainstream it must bury the enmity of
India and become a normal state or be a permanent Chinese vassal. Days of
presuming Saudi-UAE patronage are gone.”
The
second absence in the room was Israel. While Israel’s name was mentioned, at
times, in the context of the corridor, White House Spokesperson Jake Sullivan
stated that the project was not a “precursor” to normalization efforts between
Israel and Saudi Arabia, but Israel’s inclusion was nonetheless “significant”.
Other heads of state like French President, Emmanuel Macron, made sure not to
mention Israel at all while discussing the corridor in their press
addresses.
Maps
from before the summit usually point to Piraeus as the corridor’s target port
in Europe, but Greece was not invited to the summit as an observer and her name
was not to be mentioned. PM Modi visited Greece merely two weeks ago, and yet
Italy signed the official MOU, possibly signaling a share for Italian
ports.
Despite
warm personal relations between PM Modi and PM Netanyahu, Israel was not
invited to the G-20 as an observer state, while Egypt, UAE, and Oman were among
the invitees. One reason may be the reluctance of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
Bin Salman (MBS) to be seen publicly with Netanyahu. Conveniently enough, word
is out that Netanyahu has been invited for an official visit to India, later,
at a time yet to be determined.
Prime
Minister Netanyahu had pre-empted any doubts with a brief video message issued
Saturday night. In it, he praised the declaration of the corridor at the G-20 summit and
thanked the G-20 leadership headed by President Joe Biden. He stated that the
Israeli government had been in intense negotiations with the Biden
administration over the corridor, and it was a revolutionary achievement for
Israel, its diplomatic stature, and its prominence in global trade.
ATTACHMENT TWELVE – From CNN
US SAYS INDIA IS DISAPPOINTED XI AND PUTIN
AREN’T ATTENDING G-20, BUT BIDEN SEES IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY
By Kevin Liptak, CNN Updated 12:55 PM EDT, Fri September 8,
2023
New DelhiCNN —
President Joe Biden arrived
in India on Friday for a two-day summit at
a moment of division among the world’s leading economies, hoping to seize on an
opening created by the absence of the Russian and Chinese leaders.
Biden’s first order of business upon arriving was a one-on-one with
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence. Biden has sought to fully
embrace India as one of the most critical partnerships for the US in the 21st
century and a key regional ally to counter China.
White House officials called it “a disappointment” to India that Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will not participate
in this weekend’s summit, but added that the United States intends to use the summit as an
opportunity to strengthen relationships with the rest of the nations attending.
“I will say that I think for our Indian partners, there is substantial disappointment that they’re
not here and gratitude that we are,” deputy assistant to the president
and coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell told reporters shortly after Biden’s meeting with
Modi.
The White House still harbors deep concerns about Modi’s record on human
rights and what many view as democratic backsliding in India, including restrictions
on the press. As Biden was flying to New Delhi, officials
aboard Air Force One said India
had rebuffed US requests for any press access to the two leaders’ meeting.
“The leaders re-emphasized that the shared values of freedom, democracy, human
rights, inclusion, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens are
critical to the success our countries enjoy and that these values strengthen
our relationship,” a joint statement released after the meeting read.
The leaders also announced a series of agreements on technology and trade
and hailed agreements on high-tech trade, including on semi-conductors, telecom
and computing. They also said they had settled the seventh and last outstanding
World Trade Organization dispute between India and the United States.
Modi also “looked forward to welcoming President Biden to the next Quad Leaders’ Summit to be hosted by
India in 2024.”
After the meeting,
officials celebrated the improving relationship between India and the United
States – describing it as “completely turned around” – but say Biden still pushed Modi on the state of democracy in his
country.
“In every meeting that I’ve been in with the President, the president’s
very clear about the importance of the health of democracy,” Campbell said. “He
doesn’t do this in such a way that suggests that one country is lecturing to
another but rather that we all face shared challenges and we think it’s
important that we’re constantly asking the hard questions about our democracy.”
Campbell said Biden made “very clear” to Modi that democracy is “a important issue in our bilateral
relationship.” Biden also had a “private interaction” with Modi and did “not
shy away from hard challenges,” but that the president “begins from a platform
of trust and confidence.”
“India continues to
be a work in progress, and I think the key here is for us to maintain a
respectful dialogue and to approach some of the challenges with a degree of
humility given some of the challenges that we’ve faced in our own country as
well by link,” Campbell said. 3,000 year old India?
Biden isn’t aiming to paper over the fractures during his time in New
Delhi. But with an eye toward countering China,
he does hope to convince a splintered world the United States remains a
committed and valuable partner.
He arrives as polling in the United States shows strong headwinds in his bid
for reelection; a CNN
survey released the day of his departure showed two-thirds of
Democrat-leaning voters don’t want Biden as the 2024 nominee.
Biden’s advisers believe his activities on the global stage can help
provide a contrast with Republicans, and his campaign released a television ad
Thursday highlighting his visit to Ukraine earlier this year.
But Biden’s shaky political standing has nonetheless left fellow leaders,
particularly in Europe, wondering what the next year will portend and whether
Biden’s pledges of a robust US role in the world will be sustained.
In New Delhi, Biden is
hoping to make the argument that the United States can act as a better partner
for developing countries than China.
He has an unexpected opening to make his case: Chinese President Xi Jinping is
skipping this weekend’s summit, his first time missing a G20 since taking
office in 2012.
While that is a lost opportunity in some ways – Biden and Xi met for
hours at last year’s G20 in Bali – it also frees the stage for the US to make
its argument for American partnerships.
At a moment when the
very fragile state of China’s economy is causing deep concern about global ripple
effects, Biden hopes to use the relative strength of the American market to
make his pitch. Campbell said there were “undeniable
opportunities” for the US at the summit given the leaders who will be attending
– and those who won’t.
“I think we fully intend to strengthen and deepen our relationship, and
we leave it to China in particular to discuss and explain while why they are
not here. It’s really their business,” he said.
He isn’t arriving empty handed. He comes armed with proposals to reform
and step up investments in the World Bank, leveraging
US funds to free up hundreds of billions of dollars in new grants and loans for
the developing world.
The White House insists the steps are not about countering Beijing.
“It’s not just a question of responding to China, it’s a question of
addressing long standing global challenges, reducing poverty,” US Treasury
Secretary Janet Yellen said at a morning briefing in New Delhi.
Still, the White House has argued institutions like the World Bank can
provide an alternative to what they say are China’s coercive lending practices.
Ahead of Biden’s arrival, officials were hurriedly working to draft joint
declarations that could be signed off on by the summit’s end. But the talks
have been difficult, according to diplomats, and reflected the wide divides
within the G20 over the most contentious global issues.
As diplomats continue wrangling over language to include in a final leaders’
statement, Campbell sought to downplay the process.
“This is the way it always goes. It comes down to this,” he said. “We are
finding that on many of the issues that matter to us, we are making progress.
There’s clearly been some forward movement on climate.”
“It’s the last moment when things come together,” he said. “And look, I
will tell you that the American team is extraordinarily competent and able and
we’ve got some willing interlocutors, we’ll see what’s possible.”
While Biden has been successful in rallying support in the West for
Ukraine, he hasn’t necessarily been as persuasive among leaders in the
so-called Global South, including India, Brazil and South Africa.
Failure to agree on shared language could prove a major disappointment
for the host of this year’s summit, Modi, who has worked to center the
discussions here on the developing world but also bolster his stature as global
statesman.
Modi’s face has been plastered around New Delhi welcoming delegates to
the G20 and announcing the theme: “One Earth, One Family, One Future.”
ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN – From Fox News
BIDEN ARRIVES IN INDIA FOR G-20 SUMMIT AS
FOES PUTIN AND CHINA'S XI KEEP AWAY
India hosts the annual meeting of the world's top economies
Published September 8, 2023 3:00pm EDT | Updated September 8, 2023 3:20pm EDT
India is hosting its first G-20 summit starting
September 9 in New Delhi, where leaders of the world’s top economies will
gather to discuss major international economic issues.
The G-20
members represent 85% of global gross domestic product, 75% of international
trade and two-thirds of the world’s population, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD).
"As Xi
and Putin shrink from the global stage, the U.S. has an excellent opportunity
to reclaim the mantle of global leadership, helping other G-20 nations
recognize and promote the value of transparency, development, and open trade
supported by democratic rules and principles," Elaine Dezenski,
Senior Director for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies’s
Center on Economic and Financial Power, told Fox News Digital.
INDIA MAY BE MOVING TO CHANGE ITS NAME TO ANCIENT SANSKRIT TERM, G20 INVITATION
SUGGESTS
One major sticking point for the summit will once
again be Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which will likely split the group
between the unabashedly pro-Ukraine countries of the West and countries, like
India, that have taken a more neutral or nonaligned approach to the
conflict.
"The reality is that Russia’s illegal war has had devastating social
and economic consequences, and the poorest countries on the planet are bearing
the brunt of that," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a
White House press briefing on Tuesday.
The November 2022 Bali summit declaration notes that
most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine, but divides remain.
Most notable, host country India has adopted a
position of neutrality, focusing on the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war but avoiding
placing blame directly on Russian President Vladimir Putin. India’s trade with Russia has
actually increased since the war began, and India is also heavily reliant upon
Russia for arms exports. India bought weapons worth over $60 billion in the
last 20 years, and 65% or nearly $39 billion were from Russia, according to
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute data. But now, NoKo
ZELENSKYY TAKES JAB AT PUTIN OVER G20 SUMMIT, HOPES 'NO OCCUPIERS' WILL
BE IN ATTENDANCE
"But the fact that most members of the G-20 —
as most members of the U.N. General Assembly — continue to hold the position
that Russia’s war was illegal, in violation of the U.N. Charter, and that this
war must end on terms consistent with the U.N. Charter — that is the result of
months of hard diplomacy by the United States and our partners, and it
continues to reflect where international sentiment is on this issue,"
Sullivan added.
Vladimir Putin is once again skipping the G-20
summit, instead sending his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, likely due to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant issued
to Putin in March for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children in
occupied Ukraine. The indictment could hinder his international travel,
because it would require
member states to arrest Putin if he were to set foot in their country.
Although the United States, Russia and India are not parties to the ICC, the
indictment makes it harder for countries to ignore the allegations, and
international pressure would mount wherever Putin may visit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will also reportedly
not attend. Xi and President Biden met on the sidelines of the Bali summit in
November for their first in-person meeting since Biden took office.
Speaking last week, Biden told reporters, "I am
disappointed, but I’m gonna get to see him."
CHINA-DOMINATED BLOC OFFERS IRAN, SAUDI ARABIA MEMBERSHIP IN MOVE THAT
SEEKS TO UNDERMINE US
The absence of two of the world's leading
authoritarians leaves President Biden and the United States with greater
opportunities to shore up allies and partners in a global environment
characterized by great power competition.
"Given both Putin and Xi’s absence from the
G-20, it provides an excellent opportunity to rally support from democratic
partners and allies to push mechanisms to strengthen the rule of law and
transparent and sustainable infrastructure," the FDD's Dezenski said.
"Biden’s
announcement supporting increased funding for the G-7 Partnership for Global
Infrastructure Investment (PGII) is an intriguing alternative to China’s
problematic and dependency-building Belt and Road Initiative and offers an opportunity to reassert the U.S. as a more dependable
partner for long-term economic engagement throughout the Global South," Dezenski added.
The G-20 was
originally conceived following the 1999 Asian financial crisis and debuted its
annual summit in 2008 amid the Great Recession. The
leaders of the world’s top industrialized and developing economies agreed that financial crises have
major spillover effects and could no longer be contained by just a national or
regional response.
The G-20 consists of Argentina, Australia, Brazil,
Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United
States and the European Union.
During the 2022 Bali summit in Indonesia, President Biden supported the
permanent inclusion of the African Union, a bloc of 55 nations, into the G-20.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already on record as saying he supports
the proposal and that it will be on the agenda for the New Delhi summit.
The theme
of India’s G-20 presidency is derived from the Sanskrit
"Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam"
or "One Earth. One Family. One Future." India’s theme looks to bring
a human-centric approach to global issues such as climate change and promoting
equitable and sustainable growth for the entire world. More specifically, India
under its presidency has focused on issuing more loans for developing economies
in the Global South, the effects of inflation, food insecurity and increasingly
volatile weather events due to climate change.
ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN – From the NY Times
G20 SUMMITLEADERS AGREE ON AID AGENDA,
BUT SOFTEN STANCE ON UKRAINE WAR
G20
leaders reached consensus earlier than expected at their summit in India, issuing
a broad economic plan for poorer nations. But divisions over Russia’s invasion
over Ukraine remained.
Sept.
9, 2023 Updated 2:39 p.m. ET
By
Katie Rogers
A painstakingly negotiated declaration Saturday
evening at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi omitted any condemnation of
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or its brutal conduct of the war, instead
lamenting the “suffering” of the Ukrainian people.
It was
an eye opening departure from a similar document agreed to less than a year ago
in Bali, when leaders acknowledged different views over the invasion but still
issued a strong condemnation of the Russian invasion and called on Moscow to withdraw its
troops.
This year, amid low expectations that the
divided group would reach any sort of consensus with Ukraine, the declaration
pointed to past United Nations resolutions condemning the war and noted the
“adverse impact of wars and conflicts around the world.” The
statement also called on Russia to allow the export of grain and fertilizer
from Ukraine and “to support a comprehensive, just and durable peace.”
American officials defended the agreement,
saying it built on the statement released last year and that the United States
was still pressing for peace in Ukraine.
“From our perspective, it does a very good
job of standing up for the principle that states cannot use force to seek
territorial acquisition or to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty
or political independence of other states,” Jake Sullivan, the president’s
national security adviser, told reporters.
But Oleg Nikolenko,
a spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, said on Facebook that the omission
of Russian aggression was “nothing to be proud of.”
Mr.
Biden and his advisers focused on what the new declaration had achieved: It
included new language on the issue of global debt and on overhauling
institutions like the World Bank to address the growing strains on poorer
countries; an invitation to the African Union to join the G20; and a push for
more financing to help vulnerable nations deal with the costs of dealing with
climate change. The declaration also underscored the potential of digital
technologies to increase inclusion in global economies.
The
president joined other leaders in announcing a project to create a rail and
shipping corridor linking India to the Middle East and, eventually, Europe. It
was a promise of new technological and trade pathways, they said, in a part of
the world where deeper economic cooperation was overdue.
The
project lacked key details, including a time frame or budget. Even so, it
represented much softer than usual rhetoric about Russia from Mr. Biden and
other Western leaders, who have spent the better part of two years spending
billions on arming Ukraine and burning untold domestic political capital
building support for the war. Facing a summit rife with deep divisions, Mr.
Biden did not speak publicly about the war or almost anything else, except to
say “it would be nice” if President Xi Jinping of China, who skipped the summit
along with the Russian leader, Vladimir V. Putin, had attended.
Mr.
Biden spent most of his time at the summit quietly nurturing his relationship
with Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, who has continued his country’s
traditional practice of abstaining from superpower skirmishes, but who has his
own tensions with China. He is also keenly interested in presenting himself —
and his country — as an ascendant global player.
“Biden,
like previous presidents, is trying to bring India closer,” Richard N. Haass, a foreign policy veteran and former president of the
Council on Foreign Relations. “He’s having limited success, but that’s the
nature of the relationship. That’s baked into the cake here.”
Mr. Haass said that joint declarations often take on the
characteristics of the host country. In this case, he said, it seemed that “the
host determined not to antagonize either China or Russia.” He called the
statement — and the economic summit — an example of “incremental diplomacy” and
not a forum where the conflict could be resolved.
White
House officials did not publicly say why the United States would sign onto a
joint agreement that did so little to keep pressure on Russia, though the
Russians had loudly complained about the focus on them. (Maria Zakharova, the
spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, cited the “Ukrainization” of the
summit to explain Mr. Putin’s absence.)
Besides
Ukraine, there were other points of contention over the declaration. Mr.
Sullivan was asked about reports that the Chinese had objected to language in a
draft that confirmed that the United States would host the G20 meeting in 2026.
“On the issue of China, all I can say is the communiqué is done,” he said.
The absence of two of the group's most
influential leaders, coupled with the ongoing war in Ukraine, had raised
questions about whether the summit meeting could achieve much of anything given
the current geopolitical divisions. Biden administration officials spent much
of their time with reporters assuring them that the summit was still effective.
Mr.
Biden’s advisers pointed to to the announcement of
plans to build a rail and shipping corridor from India through the Middle East
to Europe as evidence that the group could build connections even in fraught
territory.
At the event presenting the initiative, Mr.
Biden shook hands with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, which
has agreed to participate, something he had pointedly avoided doing when
visiting the kingdom last year.
The
announcement comes as the Biden administration has worked, so far
unsuccessfully, to broker an ambitious diplomatic agreement that would help the
Saudis normalize diplomatic relations with Israel. The United States and the
European Union also announced on Saturday a project that would explore the
creation of a rail line between Zimbabwe and Angola.
Unlike
in years past, where he held high-stakes meetings with individual allies and
competitors, Mr. Biden stayed in the background for most of his time in India,
content to let Mr. Modi take the lead. On Sunday, Mr. Biden will travel to
Vietnam, where he is expected to celebrate a new upgrade in relations with
Vietnam, despite concerns about
the country’s recent authoritarian crackdown and repression.
Unlike
his predecessor and possible 2024 competitor, former president Donald J. Trump,
Mr. Biden’s brand of personalized
statesmanship has long been centered around the belief that the
best relationships — and even some of the worst ones — are best handled through
one-on-one interactions and private negotiations. At forums like the G20, Mr.
Biden has often presented his version of leadership as a steadier alternative
to Mr. Trump’s bombastic and unpredictable style.
Mr.
Modi, for his part, was so intent on showcasing the promise and potential of India
to the rest of the world that his government effectively shut down a city of 20
million people for the occasion. Leading up to the event, Mr. Modi’s likeness
was plastered on thousands of posters throughout New Delhi.
On
Saturday, speaking in Hindi, Mr. Modi began his inaugural address to the group
of leaders by paying respects to the people of Morocco, where an earthquake killed
hundreds. He ended his remarks by announcing the invitation to the
African Union and hugging Azali Assoumani,
the chairman of the bloc and the president of Comoros. Officials offered Mr. Assoumani a flag, a country nameplate and a seat at the
table.
India’s G20 presidency comes at a moment of
contradiction for the country: Its rise to a bigger role on the world stage
coincides with increasing divisions at home. While Mr. Modi is
tapping into India’s strengths — a rapidly growing economy, a young work force
and a strong tradition of technological and scientific innovation — to
transform it into a developed nation, he is making sure that nation is reshaped
along Hindu-first lines.
The increasing aggression of his right-wing
support base has created a combustible reality, with religious tensions between
Hindus and Muslims frequently erupting in clashes.
Mr.
Biden notably stayed away
from the democracy-versus-autocracy themes that shape much of his
messaging overseas and at home. (At one point, Mr. Biden did pose for a photo
with the leaders of several other democracies, including India, Brazil and
South Africa.) And, his advisers stressed that the G20 was not competing with
forums like the group of nations known as BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
They
pointed out that reaching a consensus on the declaration, even if it was a
softer one, was a labor of effective diplomacy.
“The G20
is just a more diverse body with a wider range of views,” Jon Finer, the
president’s deputy national security adviser, said. “It gives us a chance to
interact with and work with and take constructive steps with a wider range of
countries, including some we don’t see eye-to-eye with on every issue.”
Mujib
Mashal, Peter Baker and Alex Travelli contributed
reporting from New Delhi.
TIMELINES (reversed) and TAKEAWAYS...
Sept.
9, 2023, 11:11 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Mujib
Mashal
The
leaders are going into a dinner hosted by India’s president, Droupadi Murmu. The menu features
“jackfruit galette served with glazed forest mushrooms,” “cardamom scented
Barnyard millet” and Kashmir Kahwa, a spice-flavored
tea. More than 70 musicians will provide entertainment.
Sept.
9, 2023, 11:03 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
India takes credit for
progress on the G20’s aid agenda.
While
world leaders shocked G20 summit watchers by issuing a joint statement a day
earlier than expected that touched on the war in Ukraine, India’s finance
minister was taking the floor to talk up her country’s role in making progress
on a different issue: Aid.
India “has walked the talk,” the finance
minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said.
She rattled off a list of economic and
development finance achievements, starting with reforms to the Multilateral
Development Banks, or MDBs, tasked with driving economic development in poorer
countries. The measures, she said, were intended to make the banks “bigger, better
and more effective.”
The
MDBs, which include the World Bank, the BRICS’ own New Development Bank and a
dozen others, have been under review by an independent “expert group” named by
India and led by Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard, and N.K.
Singh, an Indian economist.
The
review found that the current funding — at $192 billion for 2022 — was now
equivalent to just two-thirds of what it was during the financial crisis and a
fraction of the world’s developing countries’ GDP. The banks would need deeper
pockets, Mr. Summer and Mr. Singh wrote, along with a greater focus on
cross-border challenges like climate change and pandemics.
Ms.
Sitharaman announced that one reform alone, of the banks’ “capital adequacy
frameworks” or CAFs, would open up an additional $200 billion
in lending to the Global South.
She
listed seven more achievements, including the expansion of India’s digital-public
infrastructure to other countries via a two-year
financial-inclusion plan — again focused on the Global South.
There
also was a notable shift on climate finance. The United States, the European
Union and other wealthy countries had pledged more than a decade ago to
mobilize $100 billion per year in financing to help poorer countries shift to
clean energy and adapt to future climate risks. But they have fallen short and
sidestepped questions about the fund.
On Saturday, however, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi of India made a statement that redirected the group’s attention from
climate finance to the development of biofuels to help reduce emissions. His
remarks also seemed to cast doubt on his country’s commitment to the benefits
of carbon-credit trading, though Indian officials later clarified that India
remains committed to it.
To
finish the day, several heads of government unveiled a more tangible
development. The India-Middle-East-Europe Economic Corridor — announced by
President Biden, Mr. Modi and the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman —
would run oil, gas and other forms of energy from the Persian Gulf through
countries north, south, east and west with the exception of Iran. However, the
project lacked key details, including a time frame.
Sept.
9, 2023, 9:54 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Reporting from New Delhi
The G20 statement this
year takes a softer line on the war in Ukraine.
The war
in Ukraine divided the G20 for a second straight year, but this time it led to
an abbreviated, softened set of comments from the group that suggested waning
interest in the muscular stand against Russian aggression that the United
States and much of Europe have long favored.
There
had been doubts that leaders at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi would agree
on any language at all about the war when their meetings started on Saturday,
because the issue had remained unresolved in lower-level discussions.
The
37-page joint declaration released
Saturday put those worries to rest, but compared to the statement from last
year’s summit in Bali, Indonesia, the language referring to Russia’s
invasion could best be described as less forceful and less specific — a strong
nudge rather than a counterpunch.
In the third paragraph of the 2022 joint
statement, the G20 had declared that the group “deplores in the strongest terms
the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its
complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.”
That line is nowhere to be found in this
year’s statement, nor was any other mention calling for a Russian withdrawal. Beyond
calling for unimpeded deliveries of food and fertilizer, there is no mention of
Russia at all in the 83-paragraph document.
The
first mention of the war in Ukraine comes in the eighth paragraph. “Concerning
the war in Ukraine, while recalling the discussion in Bali,” the declaration
says, “we reiterated
our national positions and resolutions adopted at the U.N. Security Council and
the U.N. General Assembly.”
The statement last year cited the high level
of support for the resolution opposing Russia’s unprovoked invasion — with “141
votes for, 5 against, 35 abstentions, 12 absent.” It also noted that “most
members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing
immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global
economy.”
However, the 2023 statement made no mention
of a majority opposing Russia’s actions.
“We
highlighted the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in
Ukraine,” the statement released on Saturday said.
Both the
2022 and the 2023 statements noted there were different views on the war — an
unsurprising assessment, given that Russia and China are part of the G20, along
with many countries (including India) that have not signed onto the U.S.-led
sanctions targeting Moscow.
American
and European officials, who have demanded stronger statements in the past, did
not immediately comment on the new, lowered standard of international outrage.
S.
Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, in a news conference after the statement
was released, suggested that opinions were being changed by events. “Bali was a
year ago, the situation was different,” he said. “Many things have happened
since then.”
Sept.
9, 2023, 8:58 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
One area of agreement:
helping countries build up their digital infrastructures.
A key outcome
of India’s G20 presidency is a consensus among the nations on a top priority of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi: the embrace of technological innovation for
developing nations.
Mr. Modi
has invested heavily in what India calls digital public infrastructure —
essentially state-controlled digital platforms upon which apps, private or
public, can be built to expand the delivery of services.
The
introduction of such technology in countries where physical infrastructure is
lacking lets them leapfrog past that shortfall, its advocates say.
India
created a digital biometric identity system as the base upon which service
delivery apps could be built. The system’s flexibility and reach were
particularly useful during the pandemic, helping the government with initiatives
like the vaccine rollout and cash transfers.
The clearest sign of India’s success in this
area has been its homegrown digital payments infrastructure. The quick
scan-and-pay system — used at roadside vegetable carts, tea stalls, barbershops
and many other places — connects bank accounts to mobile phones. It accounted
for about 10 billion transactions last month.
The
August transactions totaled more than $180 billion in value, but what makes the
reach of U.P.I. especially broad is that most payments are small: a 10-cent cup
of milk chai or a $2 bag of fresh vegetables.
India’s
success with digital public infrastructure, or D.P.I., helped build consensus
during the negotiations for the G20 summit declaration, officials said. New
Delhi has already signed agreements with eight nations to help them develop
digital infrastructure of their own.
Reaching that consensus required addressing
several concerns, including fears about privacy and potential data breaches,
and a perception that “public” infrastructure meant there could be no market
competition.
“The
conversation of the D.P.I. need not be a binary with the harm,” said Rajeev
Chandrasekhar, India’s state minister for electronics and technology. “We have
to deal with the harm, we have to deal with the bad, as we continue to push
forward with the good.”
Hari
Kumar contributed reporting.
Sept.
9, 2023, 8:50 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Peter
Baker
President
Biden shook hands with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia at an
event announcing a new economic shipping corridor from India to Europe,
something he had avoided doing when visiting the kingdom last year.
Sept.
9, 2023, 8:51 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Peter
Baker
On that
trip to Jeddah, Biden gave the prince a fist bump instead of a handshake, a
much-discussed moment given that he had vowed during the 2020 campaign to make
the kingdom a “pariah” over the assassination of the journalist Jamal
Khashoggi.
Sept.
9, 2023, 8:21 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Reporting from Dakar, Senegal
The African Union gets a
long-sought voice on the global stage.
In
joining the Group of 20 as a permanent member on Saturday, the African Union
completed a move to give it a greater voice on the global stage that its
representatives said was long overdue.
The union
represents 55 member states with some of the world’s fastest-growing economies,
populations and cities, and a continent of about 1.4 billion people that is
expected to represent a quarter of the global population by 2050.
But
until Saturday, only one of its members, South Africa, was part of G20.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, the group’s main representative, said the
membership would give African countries, which often struggle to be heard on
matters beyond the continent, a platform to push their own agenda.
A key
issue is likely to be the adaptation by African countries to climate change:
They are home to most of the world’s renewable energy resources and contribute
the least to global warming, although they are the most affected by it.
William
Ruto, the president of Kenya, one of the biggest economies in sub-Saharan
Africa, said recently that the continent could be immensely wealthy if its
natural resources were fairly treated.
“Those
who produce the garbage refuse to pay their bills,” Mr. Ruto said at the first
Africa Climate Summit earlier this month, in calling on the world’s richest
countries and largest emitters to finance the climate transition.
The
group’s membership in the G20 is the product of an effort by African countries
to gain a higher profile in global institutions, including lobbying for a
permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. And last month, Egypt
was extended an invitation to join a group of emerging
economies known as BRICS.
S.
Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, said that President Macky
Sall of Senegal, the former chairman of the African
Union, had complained at the G20 summit in Bali last year about how long it was
taking the bloc to gain membership. Mr. Modi promised him that it would be done
under India’s presidency, he said.
In
recent years, African leaders have pushed back on the idea that the continent
had little to contribute in addressing the world’s challenges. They have also
rejected accounts that focus on a struggle for influence between global powers
in defining the region, which is home to the world’s second largest rainforest
and vast reserves of oil and minerals needed to make renewable and low-carbon
technologies.
Many
African governments, for instance, declined to take a side after Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, refusing to be dragged into a conflict that they say is
not theirs.
The
African Union is the second region bloc of countries to become a permanent
member of the G20, after the European Union. But speaking for all its member
states at G20 summits may be a stiff challenge because of their diversity in
size and economic development.
Critics
have in recent years questioned the African Union’s ability to address some of
the continent’s most pressing challenges, prime among them growing insecurity
and repeated coups.
Sept.
9, 2023, 8:19 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Peter
Baker
President
Biden did not appear to be bothered by the absence of Xi Jinping. Asked by a
reporter if the Chinese leader's absence was impacting the summit meeting,
Biden said, “It would be nice to have him here, but no, the summit is going
well.”
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:58 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Mujib
Mashal
While
China's leader, Xi Jinping, did not participate in the summit, India’s foreign
minister Jaishankar said “China
was very supportive of various outcomes.” The relationship between the
two countries has remained tense since border clashes three years ago.
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:30 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Alex Travelli
India’s
finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has rattled off a long list “achievements
under the Indian presidency” of the G20. She started with a four-point series of reforms to the
Multilateral Development Banks, a mixture of vague and specific measures
intended to make the banks “bigger, better, and more effective.”
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:32 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Alex Travelli
One of
the more inspiring achievements listed by Sitharaman concerned India’s Digital Public
Infrastructure — public goods including three foundational resources: digital
identity, a real-time system of fast payments, and a platform to share digital
content without compromising privacy. A financial-inclusion plan, to run
between 2024 and 2026, is supposed to spread these tools far and wide to other
countries that want it.
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:25 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Mujib
Mashal
S.
Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, said while the leaders noted that G20 is
not the platform for political discussions, they had discussed the “significant
consequences for the global economy” that the war in Ukraine is having “on
developing and least developed countries.”
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:26 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Alex Travelli
That is
an all but explicit riposte to China’s complaint of this year: That the G20 is supposed to be only a
forum for discussing economic matters, and not things like war and peace.
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:15 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Damien
Cave
G20
leaders reached consensus a day earlier than expected, releasing an
83-paragraph, 37-page joint communique addressing issues from clean energy to
the consequences of the war in Ukraine.“This is a complete statement with
100 percent unanimity,” said Amitabh Kant, India’s chief G20 negotiator.
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:18 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Damien
Cave
The
joint declaration reiterates support for the U.N. resolution opposing Russia’s
aggression against Ukraine – but it both softens and adds to the G20’s characterization
of the war from 2022.
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:40 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Damien
Cave
The
third paragraph of last year’s joint statement said that the group “deplores in
the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine
and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of
Ukraine.” This year’s statement did not contain that
Sept.
9, 2023, 7:01 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Putin is skipping the
meeting, complaining about the G20’s focus on Ukraine.
Image
President
Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is skipping the G20 summit, just as he did last
year, with tensions over the war in Ukraine again expected to roil the
discussions and with both Moscow and Beijing putting renewed emphasis on their
newly expanded, alternative global club, the BRICS group.
Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for
Russia’s foreign ministry, said that the “Ukrainization” of the summit had
prompted Mr. Putin to stay away. Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov will
represent Russia at the meeting.
“It has become difficult for the countries of
the G20 to work due to the fact that not a single meeting is complete without a
discussion of Ukraine,” a Russian television channel, 360,
quoted Ms. Zakharova as saying, blaming leaders of the United States and its
allies for forcing the meeting in that direction.
Mr.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said that Russia
had not coordinated its attendance with China, whose top leader, Xi Jinping,
will also miss the meeting.
Last
year, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine addressed the G20 leaders in Bali
by video link, calling on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from his
country. Differences over Ukraine also prevented the world leaders from issuing
their usual joint statement at the end of the meeting.
Russia
has sought to portray one of goal of its war in Ukraine as an attempt to dilute
the power of Western nations in global economic and other institutions. As
such, it has been working to bolster
the weight of the BRICS organization, whose name is an acronym for its founding
members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. At its last summit
meeting in South Africa in August, the bloc agreed to admit Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates.
One aim of the group is to replace the dollar
as the international currency of trade, although that has faced problems,
especially when it comes to oil purchases. Mr. Lavrov noted last May that
Russia has accumulated billions of rupees in Indian bank accounts that it must
try to convert to another currency to transfer out of the country. At the time,
Russia was running close to a $40 billion trade surplus in rupees for the
fiscal year, according to press reports.
Mr.
Putin did not attend the BRICS meeting in South Africa either, although he did
address it by video link, blaming the West for the war he started in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court
has issued a warrant for Mr. Putin’s arrest over accusations regarding the
illegal deportation of children from Ukraine during the war. Any nation that is
a party to the court, including South Africa, would be under pressure to detain
him if he traveled to its territory.
Some
Western nations have suggested that Mr. Putin should not be invited to any
international summits given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sept.
9, 2023, 6:10 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Mujib
Mashal
Modi
says the G20 summit, under India’s presidency, has reached consensus over a
leaders’ declaration. Details of the declaration are not clear yet.
Disagreements over the Ukraine war among member states had cast a long shadow
over the summit, making it unclear whether the leaders could agree on a joint
statement.
Sept.
9, 2023, 6:07 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Even at a tightly
choreographed event, surprises are always possible.
Gatherings
of world leaders for events that begin with the letter “G” often follow highly
scripted agendas, with the topics of discussion hammered out months ahead of
time in meetings by diplomats. Yet drama does have a way of intervening.
At the Group of 7 meeting hosted by Japan in
Hiroshima this spring, rumors that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine
might attend, at least via Zoom, were circulating as the meeting convened. He made a
dramatic entry in person, landing in a French plane on
the second full day of the summit, a day after President Biden reversed a
previous stance and told the other leaders that the United States would join
the effort to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 fighter jet.
Mr.
Zelensky met personally with several of G7 country leaders, including Narendra
Modi, the prime minister of India, which has insisted on neutrality throughout
the Russian war in Ukraine. But that meeting did not persuade the Indian leader
to offer military support to Ukraine, and it is seen as unlikely that Mr.
Zelensky will make a similar surprise appearance at the G20 meeting in India
this weekend.
In
Hiroshima, the Ukrainian leader’s star presence transformed the predictable
event into a newsmaker and overshadowed other story lines, including that
President Biden, grappling with a debt ceiling crisis back home, had to cancel a
planned trip to Australia and to Papua Guinea in what would have been the first
visit by a United States president to a Pacific Island nation.
In
addition to the public relations blitz, Mr. Zelensky achieved another goal. He
pleaded for more weapons support, and got it: at the end of the meeting,
President Biden announced an additional $375 million in weapons aid
to Ukraine.
Mr.
Zelensky visited the Hiroshima peace park that commemorates the dropping of the
atomic bomb by the United States in the closing days of World War II and laid a
wreath at the memorial. After visiting the museum at the site, he told
reporters that the images of the bomb victims had brought tears to his eyes and
reminded him of images coming out of Bakhmut,
an eastern Ukrainian city that has been destroyed by Russian forces.
Show
more
Sept.
9, 2023, 5:51 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Damien
Cave
In a
statement from the morning session, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union's top official, noted that
Africa produces only four percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions but
“is among the most affected by climate change.” She blamed climate
change for food insecurity but added that “Russia’s aggression in Ukraine” was
also making people go hungry.
Sept.
9, 2023, 5:53 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Damien
Cave
“We call
on Russia to allow the grain form Ukraine to reach global markets via the Black
Sea,” she said, referring to Moscow’s decision to withdraw from a deal that
allowed Ukraine to export grain across the Black Sea despite a wartime
blockade. She added: “The leaders of the G20 have the responsibility
and the tools to enable the flow of grain to where it is needed.”
Sept.
9, 2023, 5:46 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Mujib
Mashal
The
joint declaration of the leaders
summit continues to be negotiated, with the Ukraine war one of the key points
of disagreement just like last year’s summit in Bali. Vincent Magwenya, the spokesman for the president of South Africa,
a G-20 member, said “a great deal of work is being done” to bridge the
difference on the issue and that members were confident “consensus will
emerge.”
Sept.
9, 2023, 5:12 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Alex Travelli
One of
the trickier issues being discussed behind closed doors during the summit
concerns the role of the Multilateral Development Banks such as the World Bank.
This year, as the G20’s president, India announced an “Expert Group” led by
Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard, and N.K. Singh, an Indian
economist, to plan an overhaul of these unusual finance organizations.
Sept.
9, 2023, 5:23 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Alex Travelli
There is
“general recognition that they are not fit for purpose in the 21st century,”
Summers and Singh said, noting that the current funding — at $192 billion for
2022 — is now equivalent to a third less as a fraction of the world’s
developing countries’ GDP than it was during the financial crisis.
Sept.
9, 2023, 5:24 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Alex Travelli
If the
banks are going to justify themselves for generations to come, they say, deeper
pockets will be needed, along with a greater focus on cross-border challenges
like climate change and pandemics.
Sept.
9, 2023, 5:06 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
By
Victoria Kim
The summit is likely to
expose deepening fault lines over the war in Ukraine.
The last gathering of the leaders of the
Group of 20 nations ended with a delicately
worded statement that hinted at the diplomatic contortions that
went into producing the semblance of an agreement on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The statement released
in Indonesia in November noted that while most of the group condemned the war,
“There were other views and different assessments.”
The divisions have only deepened since
then.
China has strengthened economic ties with
Russia and its leader, Xi Jinping, made a state visit to Moscow in March. In
February, a meeting of the G20 finance ministers ended with Russia and
China refusing to sign parts
of a joint statement that referred to the war.
India,
this year’s host, has been strengthening its relationships with the United
States and other Western nations but has been reluctant to directly criticize
the war. New Delhi has been buying large amounts of discounted oil from Russia
and depends on it as a source of weapons.
“The
Ukraine crisis has cast a large shadow on the G20,” said Manjari
Chatterjee Miller, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
While
India has cast itself as a bridge between Western nations and the rest of the
world, it seems unlikely that it will be able to broker a joint statement at
the summit, Ms. Miller said in an interview before the summit started. Such a
failure would diminish the group’s history of reaching a consensus among
disparate members, she added.
Other
major economies in the G20 are in positions that are similarly complicated to
India’s. Brazil relies on Russia for fertilizer and fuel, and has refused to send to
Ukraine any weapons destined for the front lines. South Africa
has longstanding ties to Russia and has been accused by U.S. lawmakers of
covertly supplying arms and ammunition to Moscow. Turkey has sold weapons to
Ukraine but refused to join Western
sanctions against Moscow, and has served as a conduit of goods
to Russia.
The
situation within the G20 contrasts with that of the smaller and more closely
aligned Group of 7 nations, which includes mainly wealthy Western democracies.
(Russia was barred from
what had been the Group of 8 after President Vladimir V. Putin illegally
annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.)
At the
G7 summit in May in Japan, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine made a
surprise appearance and received a red-carpet welcome. The leaders came together to
discuss providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, and pledged to toughen
punishment on Moscow and redouble efforts to choke off funding for its war.
India
has not extended an invitation to Ukraine, which is not a member of the G20. At
last year’s gathering, Mr. Zelensky addressed the leaders by
video link, calling for accountability for Russia’s violations of international
law.
Neither Mr. Xi nor
Mr. Putin is expected to attend this year’s meeting. Russia’s foreign minister,
Sergey V. Lavrov, who is attending in Mr. Putin’s place, said last week that
there would be no “general statement” from all countries at the summit unless
Russia’s position is reflected, according to Tass, a
Russian state news agency.
However,
on the eve of the summit, Indian officials expressed confidence that the
leaders would overcome their differences and put out a joint declaration,
something that has been in doubt in recent weeks. Negotiations on the
declaration were expected to continue into Sunday, when the summit closes.
Sept.
9, 2023, 4:15 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Reporting from New Delhi
Modi’s divisive religious
politics threaten India’s moment on the world stage.
Inside a
sprawling golf resort south of New Delhi, diplomats were busy making final
preparations for the Group of 20 summit. The road outside was freshly smoothed
and dotted with police officers. Posters emblazoned with the image of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi bore the slogan he had chosen for the occasion: One
Earth, One Family, One Future.
Not far
away, however, were the remnants of bitter division: grieving families, charred
vehicles and the rubble of bulldozed shops and homes. Weeks before, deadly
religious violence had erupted in the Nuh district, the site of the resort. The
internet was shut down, and thousands of troops were rushed in. Clashes quickly
spread to the gates of Gurugram, a tech start-up hub just outside New Delhi
that India bills as a city of the future.
These scenes summed up
India’s contradictions as it basks in its moment this weekend
as host of the Group of 20: Its momentum toward a bigger role in a chaotic
world order is built on increasingly combustible and unequal ground at home.
On one hand, Mr. Modi is trying to turn India
into a developed nation and a guiding light for the voiceless in a
Western-dominated world. The country, now the world’s most populous, is the fastest-growing
major economy, adept digitally and awash in eager young workers. It is also a
rising diplomatic power that is seeking to capitalize on the frictions of the superpower
competition between the United States and China.
On the
other hand, Mr. Modi is deepening fault lines in Indian society with an
intensifying campaign to reshape a vastly diverse country, held together
delicately by a secular constitution, into a Hindu state. His party’s efforts
to rally and elevate Hindus — both a lifelong ideological project and a potent
lure for votes — have marginalized hundreds of millions of Muslims and other
minorities as second-class citizens.
The
question for India, as Mr. Modi seems poised to extend his decade-long rule in
an election early next year, is how much the instability caused by his
religious nationalism will hinder his economic ambitions.
Sept.
9, 2023, 3:11 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Tensions deepen between
China and India as Xi skips the summit.
As Prime
Minister Narendra Modi of India tries to position his country as a leader among
developing nations, his strategic calculations are increasingly being shaped by
a persistent threat from China.
India’s
giant neighbor is trying to contain New Delhi’s influence not just globally,
but regionally, too. Beijing is flexing its muscle from the South
Asian island nation of Maldives to countries straddling the Himalayas.
In
recent years, the two nuclear-armed neighbors have had deadly clashes on
their disputed frontier,
banned some of each other’s companies and
imposed visa restrictions on
each other’s journalists.The hostility has increased
with New Delhi’s participation in a security grouping called the Quad that
includes the United States, Australia and Japan, all of which have an uneasy
relationship with China.
Last
week, strains worsened further when China released a map that asserted
jurisdiction over the entire northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and
the Aksai Chin region, a high-altitude plateau claimed by both countries.The controversy illustrated
how 19 rounds of military talks have failed to ease tensions over the border.
Any
chance of a quick rapprochement seems to be fading, with the latest sign being
the decision by the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to skip the G20 summit, taking
a bit of the shine off Mr. Modi’s party.
Jabin T. Jacob, a professor of international relations at Shiv Nadar
University outside New Delhi, said that Beijing, while trying to aggressively
build its presence in South Asian countries, was refusing to acknowledge India
as an important player on the global stage.
“China
is just trying to deny India’s rightful place under the sun,” he said. “Domestically,
China portrays India as a client state of the United States, and on
international forums, it suggests New Delhi has nothing to add or contribute.”
Sept.
9, 2023, 2:40 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Expect more pressure on
rich countries to help poorer ones deal with climate change.
While a
major climate policy breakthrough appears unlikely at the G20 summit this
weekend, experts do expect less-wealthy countries to continue pressing richer
ones to provide more climate financing.
There may also be talk of so-called debt-for-climate swaps, in which developing
nations cut their debt by
investing in measures to reduce emissions.
The
United States, the European Union and other wealthy emitters pledged over a
decade ago to mobilize $100 billion per year in climate financing by 2020 to
help poorer countries shift to clean energy and adapt to future climate risks
through measures like building sea walls. But they are still falling well
short of that promise.
Last year, rich countries agreed at a climate
summit in Egypt to establish a fund that
would help poor, vulnerable countries cope with climate disasters made worse by
pollution from wealthy nations. But many of the details of how the fund would work
were left unresolved, and the agreement said that nations could not be held
legally liable for payments.
European and other Group of 7 countries are
interested in reserving this money for two groups: the “small island developing
states” (ones that are at risk of sinking under rising sea levels, like Tuvalu)
and “least developed countries” (the poorest of the poor, like Chad). That
would exclude countries like Pakistan, which suffered an estimated $40 billion
in losses during devastating floods last year.
Some of
the most populous countries are making the case that their citizens are among
the worst-affected victims of climate change and most deserving of aid. But
compensating the likes of Pakistan would leave little for Pacific
island nations, most of which have fewer than a million residents.
In an
article published in Indian newspapers on
Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India appeared to signal that climate
finance would be a priority this weekend. “Ambitions for climate action must be
matched with actions on climate finance and transfer of technology,” he wrote.
But a meeting of
climate ministers from G20 countries in India earlier this summer failed to
produce consensus on climate-mitigation targets. Among other
sticking points, the ministers were reported to
have differed on whether to agree to set 2025 as the year when global emissions
peak and then start to decline.
A turgid “outcome document”
from that July meeting said only that the delegates urged countries that had
not yet aligned their emissions with goals of the Paris climate agreement to
“revisit and strengthen” their 2030 targets by the end of this year. (Under
that 2015 accord, nearly 200 countries agreed to curtail their greenhouse gas
emissions through 2030 as part of a joint promise to hold total global warming
to well below 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to
preindustrial levels.)
There
was some progress on climate finance at a G20 summit in Rome two years ago,
where leaders said they would end the financing of coal
power plants overseas. But their joint communiqué included no new
commitments on curbing the use of coal domestically.
Sept.
9, 2023, 2:14 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Mujib
Mashal
Indian
officials have turned the country’s hosting of the G20 into a massive campaign
to show the world a transforming nation. Over the past nine months, delegations
of officials and diplomats from dozens of countries have traveled to 60 cities
across India for more than 200 events. “For many of them, it has been a
discovery of a new India,” Harsh Vardhan Shringla,
India’s chief coordinator for the summit, said.
Sept.
9, 2023, 2:01 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
What is the G20 and what
does it do?
Established
in 1999 after a series of major international debt crises, the Group of 20 aims
to unite world leaders around shared economic, political and health challenges.
Here is a look at what the group is and does.
The G20 includes 19 countries and the
European Union.
In addition to the United States, its members
are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, the European Union,
France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. The African Union is also poised to join
after an invitation on Saturday from Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.
Collectively, the group’s members represent
more than 80 percent of the world’s economic output.
It is a
creation of the more select Group of 7, an informal bloc of industrialized
democracies. Supporters argue that as national economies grow ever more
globalized, it is essential that political and finance leaders work closely
together.
The
G20 summit is held annually.
The G20
meeting brings together finance ministers and heads of state representing the
members. It bills itself as the “premier forum for international economic
cooperation.”
The
heads of state first convened officially in November 2008 as the global
financial crisis began to unfold. The summit meeting is hosted by the nation
that holds the rotating presidency; this year, it’s India.
The
meeting produces a joint statement.
The
two-day summit usually focuses on several core issues around which its leaders
hope to reach a consensus for collective action.
The goal
is to conclude the gathering by issuing a joint statement committing its
members to action, although the declaration is not legally binding. But
one-on-one meetings between leaders on the sidelines often overshadow official
business.
Sept.
9, 2023, 1:40 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Reporting from New Delhi
As the G20 invites the African
Union to join, the ‘Global South’ continues its advance.
They
used to be called “third world” nations, then “developing countries” — a term
still in use, but fading compared to a newer catchall phrase: the Global South.
Like
“the West,” it is an imprecise moniker. Many Global South countries are not in
the Southern Hemisphere at all. India is one, Mexico another.
But as
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India announced on Saturday that the G20 had
invited the African Union to become a member of the grouping — becoming the
second regional bloc included, after the European Union — the Global South
seems to be on the advance. Its frustrations and ideas around flaws in
great-power politics, while still coalescing, are already altering global
debate.
“These
countries are not thinking about ‘southern solidarity’ — they are just pursuing
their interests,” said Sarang Shidore, director of
the Global South program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a
Washington think tank. “And as they do that, it adds up to more than the sum of
their parts.”
What
unifies the Global South — a term coined in 1969 by
an American activist writing about the Vietnam War and now used to describe a
diverse group of more than 100 countries from Saudi Arabia to Guatemala — is a
sense that its own priorities have been sidelined in global discussions.
At a
time when India has the world’s fifth-largest economy, when economic growth in
Vietnam and Senegal is outpacing that of much of Europe, many Global South
countries are asking with a louder voice: Where are our interests represented?
Seeing a
multipolar world already in bloom, they have rejected a return to the Cold War
model of choosing a side between capitalists (the United States) and communists
(China). They have also ignored and protested U.S.-led sanctions against Russia
for its aggression in Ukraine, drawing attention instead to rising food prices
and to long-term problems like climate change that wealthier
countries do more to cause and less to ameliorate.
In January,
India hosted a virtual Voice of Global South Summit as its G20 presidency
began. Last month, some of these countries gathered in South Africa for the
BRICS summit, where China and India both presented
themselves as Global South leaders while the United States was largely absent.
Professor
Shidore said these kinds of alternative gatherings
would probably grow, both challenging Western leadership and adding new
policies to the global mix.
“These
forums matter,” he said. “They create vehicles for like-minded countries to put
forward different ideas.”
Sept.
9, 2023, 1:25 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Damien
Cave
Modi
finished his opening remarks with an invitation to the African Union "to
take its place as a permanent member,” effectively announcing a move that had
been widely expected. The African Union's addition alongside the European Union
could help India claim to have led the G20 to be more inclusive of the Global
South – a point of emphasis for the host country this year.
Sept.
9, 2023, 1:21 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Alex Travelli
Modi is delivering his opening remarks from
behind a plaque with a name that was until recently unfamiliar in international
contexts: Bharat. That is one official name of
India, identified in the Constitution. The new usage on the world stage in the
past week has been a surprise move by Modi, whose party’s name — the Bharatiya Janata Party — incorporates it. It’s a bit as if
Xi Jinping were to address the BRICS as the leader of a country called Zhongguo.
Sept.
9, 2023, 1:00 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Katie
Rogers
President
Biden greeted Modi with a handshake and a wide grin, and Modi appeared to be
explaining the backdrop to him as the two paused in the entryway. The two saw
each other last night at Modi’s residence for a bilateral meeting that lasted
just under an hour. And, of course, Modi was in Washington for a state visit in
June.
Sept.
9, 2023, 12:54 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Alex Travelli
Modi is
receiving the world’s leaders at a new convention hall past a statue of the Nataraj, or dancing-Shiva figure, from the 10th century.
It's a tangible nod to the prime minister's claim to be representing not just a
republic but an ancient civilization.
Sept.
9, 2023, 12:51 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Reporting from New Delhi
India promotes the G20
summit with barnstorming flair.
In cities
across India, the beaming face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi adorns giant
posters promoting the country’s Group of 20 presidency. A hundred national
monuments, including the Red Fort in Delhi, were illuminated with the G20 logo
to encourage people to post selfies. Government reading lessons inform students
that India is a fitting G20 host because it is “the Fountain Head of
Democracy.”
To
behold the advertising and public relations blitz that the Indian government
mounted as it prepared to hold the G20 summit this weekend, one might have
thought that India had been anointed by its peers, rather than merely being
next up in the hosting rotation.
But
India, and its governing party, were primed to capitalize on the moment.
The G20
has arrived just as India is asserting itself as a rising geopolitical and
economic force, courted by an array of global powers and offering itself up as
a leader and model for developing nations. Mr. Modi has seized on the G20
presidency as confirmation and celebration of India’s ascent — a rise to which
he has fused his own image — as he seeks a third term in an election early next
year.
Sept.
9, 2023, 12:41 a.m. ETSept. 9, 2023
Sept.
9, 2023
Mujib
Mashal
World
leaders are trickling into the venue, and the visuals of Modi receiving leader
after leader will surely be splashed across India for months to come. As he
seeks a third term in office early next year, a big part of his campaign is
fusing his image to India’s global rise. His party’s messaging around the G20
summit has been: Modi is bringing the world to India.
Sept. 9, 2023, 12:25 a.m. ETSept.
9, 2023
Sept. 9, 2023
Reporting from New Delhi
Here’s the latest on the
G20 gathering in India.
Softening their stance on the Ukraine war, leaders of the world’s largest
economies on Saturday agreed at their annual gathering to a broad economic
agenda for addressing the burdens of rising prices and climate change on poorer
nations.
The Group of 20 summit in India got underway with modest expectations,
given the vastly divergent views among its members on the Russian invasion of
Ukraine and also the absence of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and
China’s top leader, Xi Jinping.
But the group managed to reach consensus a day
earlier than expected on a joint statement coming out of the meeting —
seemingly because of language that appeared to be tempered in
that it dropped past condemnation of Russia’s aggression.
At last year’s G20, the third paragraph of the
leaders’ joint statement declared that the group “deplores in the strongest
terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its
complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.” That line
is nowhere to be found in the statement issued on Saturday in New Delhi, nor is
any other mention calling for a Russian withdrawal.
The softened language
suggested waning interest in the muscular stand against Russian
aggression that the United States and much of Europe have long favored.
Here is what else to know:
·
India, a growing diplomatic and economic power that
has stuck to neutrality over the Ukraine conflict, has painstakingly tried to
limit discussions about the war to the economic distress it has caused, with
energy and food prices rising around the world. After consensus on the joint
declaration was announced, Indian officials said they had succeeded in that
task.
·
The agreements reached by the G20 leaders included
language on the issue of global debt and overhauling institutions like the
World Bank to address the growing strains on poorer countries; a push for more
financing to help vulnerable nations deal with the costs of dealing with
climate change; and the potential of digital technologies to increase inclusion
in global economies.
·
The summit opened with the declaration of the African Union as
the latest member of the G20. The African Union’s addition alongside the
European Union could help India claim to have led the Group of 20 to be more
inclusive of the Global South. It also gives the African Union a greater voice
on the global stage — a move that its representatives said was long overdue.
·
On the sidelines of the G20, President Biden joined
other leaders in announcing a project to create a rail and shipping corridor
linking India to the Middle East and, eventually, Europe. It was a promise of
new technological and trade pathways, they said, in a part of the world where
deeper economic cooperation was overdue. The project lacked key details,
including a time frame. Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security
adviser, told reporters that leaders had committed to establishing “working
groups” within the next two months, and the planning would go from there.
ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN – From Reuters
G20 summit agrees on words
but struggles on action
By YP Rajesh and Krishn Kaushik
September
11, 20235:53 AM EDTUpdated 10 hours agoG20 summit makes little progress on debt, climate change
·
G20 should forge consensus on action, not just
language, former USTR says
·
Emphasis was on summit document, not real issues -
analysts
·
Lack of consensus would have led to division,
disappointment, Indian official says
NEW DELHI, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The Group of 20 major economies reached a
hard-fought compromise over the war in Ukraine and papered over other key
differences in a summit declaration at the weekend, presenting few concrete
achievements in its core remit of responses to global financial issues.
Diplomats and analysts said the surprise consensus in the summit
statement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict avoided a split in the group, and the
inclusion of the African Union as a new member represented a victory for host
India and for developing economies, but the rest was disappointing.
"The G20 has been at its best as a multilateral forum when it can
forge consensus - not just on language, but on action - to deal with serious
global issues, such as global financial crises," said Michael Froman, president of the New York-based Council on Foreign
Relations.
"Looking ahead, the focus should be on that, not on the statement
per se," said Froman, a former U.S. trade
representative who has also worked as Washington’s G20 and G8 negotiator.
The summit declaration avoided
condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine but highlighted the human suffering
the conflict had caused and called on all states not to use force to grab
territory.
Few had expected the G20 to reach a consensus on the document, let alone
on the first afternoon of the two-day summit, as the group had failed to agree
on a single communique at the 20 or so ministerial meetings this year due to
the hardened stance on
the war.
A failure to agree on a summit declaration would have signalled
that the G20 was split, perhaps irrevocably, between the West on one side and
China and Russia on the other, analysts said.
And with Beijing pushing to reshuffle the world order by expanding
groupings such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,
G20 could have ended up becoming irrelevant, they said.
DIFFICULT SUMMIT
G20 was set up as a platform of finance ministers and central bank
governors in 1999 to counter the effects of the Asian financial crisis and the
meeting was expanded to include leaders after the global financial crisis in
2008.
Its primary role of coordinating responses to economic issues - including
global taxation and helping low-income nations manage their debt burden under
the Common Framework in
recent years - has been diluted because the need to seek a consensus has led to
weak agreements, some analysts said.
This year, resolving differences on the Ukraine war and other issues took
up a lengthy 25 days of negotiations, including in the week leading up to the
summit, Svetlana Lukash, the Russian G20 sherpa, or government negotiator, was quoted as saying by
Russian news agency Interfax.
"This was one of the most difficult G20 summits in the almost
twenty-year history of the forum," Lukash said.
The G20 process requires consensus on all decisions which means it will
pursue the “lowest common denominator”, said Patryk Kugiel,
a senior analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs in Warsaw.
“Therefore, we do not have any concrete and substantial decisions,
commitments, pledges from G20 on any of the pressing global challenges, from
climate change to debt,” Kugiel added. “It makes the
forum ineffective, even useless.”
At the New Delhi gathering, the leaders agreed to pursue tripling renewable energy capacity
globally by 2030 and accepted the need to phase-down unabated coal power.
However, they set no timetable and said the use of coal had to be wound
down in line with national circumstances.
Coal, which is being phased out of the power system in many industrialised nations, is still a vital fuel in many
developing economies and may remain so for decades to come.
The meeting also agreed to address debt vulnerabilities of poor countries
and strengthen and reform multilateral development banks, but without setting
any concrete goals.
There was also no progress on getting Russia to return to the Black Sea
initiative although the declaration called for the safe flow of grain, food and
fertiliser from both Ukraine and Russia.
FEAR OF DIVISION, DISAPPOINTMENT
For most major G20 members though, the summit declaration appeared to be
a major gain since it reached a consensus on acceptable language to refer to
the war in Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who represented Russia at the summit in
place of the absent President Vladimir Putin, said India's presidency,
"probably for the first time during the entire G20 existence, has truly
consolidated G20 participants from the Global South".
Diplomats have said negotiators from India, Indonesia, Brazil and South
Africa drove the consensus in the summit document.
The U.S., Germany and Britain all lauded the declaration.
There was no official word from China but its state-run news agency
Xinhua, without referring to the declaration, said in a commentary on Saturday
that G20 could still be made to work.
China's presence was muted at the meeting with President Xi Jinping
staying away and Beijing represented by Premier Li Qiang,
who took his post in March this year.
A French official who was present at the summit said “G20 actually
remains a club that's capable of forging consensus between north and south and
east and west”.
Despite the lack of concrete progress, Harsh Vardhan Shringla,
India's chief G20 coordinator, said the meeting did take the group forward.
“The concerns of the developing world are so great that if you failed ...
they would have to face much greater issues of division and, I would say, even
disappointment,” he told Reuters.
Additional reporting by Michel Rose and Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan
ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN – From Fox
G20
DECLARATION TIP-TOES AROUND RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE: 'NOT THE PLATFORM TO
RESOLVE GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES'
G20's 2022 statement
"demand[ed] [Russia's] complete and unconditional withdrawal" from
Ukraine
Published September
9, 2023 4:00pm EDT
A declaration released by the Group of 20 on
Saturday did not appear to condemn Russia for the invasion of Ukraine – a stark
difference from the group's statement about the war last year.
The summit, which kicked off in New Delhi, India on Saturday, did not
include China's Xi Jinping or Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both leaders
decided not to come this year, despite their eligibility.
While the G20 acknowledged "human suffering and
negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine," their
statement did not include any harsh language towards Russia.
"Concerning the war in Ukraine, while recalling
the discussion in Bali, we reiterated our national positions and resolutions
adopted at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly […] and
underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes
and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety," the joint statement
read.
"All
states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial
acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political
independence of any state," the statement added. "The use or threat
of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible."
In their declaration, the G20 stressed that their
forum's purpose was for economic discussions rather than security issues. They
referenced how the Russo-Ukrainian War hurt global food supply and energy
security, among other issues, but concluded that "there were different
views and assessments of the situation."
"Reaffirming that the G20 is the premier forum
for international economic cooperation, and recognizing that while the G20 is
not the platform to resolve geopolitical and security issues, we acknowledge
that these issues can have significant consequences for the global
economy," the group added.
ZELENSKYY TAKES JAB AT PUTIN OVER G20 SUMMIT, HOPES 'NO OCCUPIERS' WILL
BE IN ATTENDANCE
The milquetoast statement was a dramatic difference
from the group's statement at the Bali summit last November.
"[This group] deplores in the strongest terms
the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its
complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine," the
statement read. "Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and
stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing
fragilities in the global economy – constraining growth, increasing inflation,
disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating
financial stability risks."
The summit ends on Sunday. The group's agenda for
the weekend includes food security, digital public infrastructure and fossil
fuel alternatives.
ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN – From CNN
G20 STOPS SHORT OF CONDEMNING RUSSIA’S
INVASION OF UKRAINE IN JOINT DECLARATION
By Kevin Liptak, CNN Updated 10:47 AM EDT, Sat September 9,
2023
New
Delhi CNN —
Leaders gathered here for the annual Group of 20 summit managed to agree
on a joint statement laying out shared views on climate change and economic
development but showed the fractures within the group by stopping short of
explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Diplomats had been working furiously to draft a final joint statement in
the lead-up to the summit but hit snags on language to describe the Ukraine
war. The eventual compromise statement amounted to a coup for the summit’s
host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but still reflected a position far
softer those the United States and its Western allies have adopted
individually.
US President Joe Biden was hoping to convince the world’s largest
economies to rally behind Ukraine during his two-night stay in India for the
summit. He also pressed his case for American investment in the developing
world.
On Saturday, as the summit was still underway, the leaders agreed to the
joint declaration acknowledging the situation in Ukraine while not papering
over the group’s major divides.
“All states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek
territorial acquisition,” the declaration read, without explicitly singling out
Russia for its invasion. The document also stated opposition to the use of
nuclear weapons and highlighted the economic effects of the war.
In a reflection of the deep fractures among the G20 nations, the
statement acknowledged “there were different views and assessments of the
situation.”
The declaration earned the praise of the United States. US national
security adviser Jake Sullivan called the statement a “significant milestone
for India’s chairmanship and a vote of confidence that the G20 can come
together to address a pressing range of issues.”
“The G20 statement includes a set of consequential paragraphs on the war
in Ukraine. And from our perspective, it does a very good job of standing up
for the principle that states cannot use force to seek territorial acquisition,”
Sullivan said.
Still, the language differed from last year’s G20 declaration, which
stated “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine.”
Russia, as a member of the G20, would have to agree on any consensus
statement on Ukraine. Russia and China had resisted stronger language in a
final statement, making any kind of agreement difficult. No G20 summit has
concluded without a joint declaration of some type.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko
criticized the declaration.
“Ukraine is grateful to its partners who tried to include strong wording
in the text,” he wrote on Facebook. “At the same time, the G20 has nothing to
be proud of in the part about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Obviously,
the participation of the Ukrainian side would have allowed the participants to
better understand the situation. The principle of ‘nothing about Ukraine
without Ukraine’ remains as key as ever.”
The absence at the summit of two of Biden’s chief global rivals — Chinese
leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin — provided opportunities
for Biden to make a more affirmative case at the summit, White House officials
said as the gathering was getting underway in New Delhi.
Biden said Saturday he would have welcomed the presence of his Chinese
counterpart at the summit, but that positive outcomes were still possible.
“It would be nice to have him here but, no, the summit is going well,”
Biden said when questioned about the impact of Xi’s absence.
Biden was hoping to use the gathering to portray the United States as a
credible counterweight to China’s economic outreach.
He announced new plans with partner nations in Europe, the Middle East
and Asia to construct a major new transit corridor connecting the regions, a
challenge to Beijing’s own efforts at expanding global trade.
And he unveiled new reforms and investments in the World Bank, which the
White House says could unlock hundreds of billions of dollars in grants and
loans for the developing world – providing an alternative to China’s economic
ambitions in those regions.
Biden was welcomed by the summit’s host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, with a smile and a warm handshake.
“India calls upon the world to come together to transform the global
trust deficit into one of trust and reliance. This is the time for all of us to
move together,” Modi said as the gathering got underway.
“Be it the divide between North and South, the distance between the East
and West, management of food and fuel, terrorism, cyber security, health,
energy or water security, we must find a solid solution to this for future
generations,” he added.
It was a message of unity at a markedly fractured moment for the
grouping.
While Biden has enjoyed ample success at other summits convincing fellow
leaders to step up their military support for Ukraine and tighten their
punishment of Russia, many nations, particularly in the Global South, haven’t
been as convinced.
They view the billions of dollars in Western assistance pouring into
Ukraine skeptically, and have sought a more balanced relationship with Moscow.
Biden’s aides say the president welcomes the opportunity to continue
making the case for Ukraine, including to audiences that aren’t necessarily on
the same page.
“Part of what makes the G20 an appealing format for the United States is
it gives us a chance to interact with and work with and take constructive steps
with a wider range of countries, including some, frankly, that we don’t see eye
to eye with on every issue,” US deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told
reporters on Saturday.
An alternative to China’s Belt and Road?
Biden hopes to use new announcements on new infrastructure and
investments as demonstration of US commitment to the developing world, and a
better option for partnership than China.
He announced the launch of a new economic corridor that will connect India,
the Middle East and Europe on Saturday. The plans could potentially transform
global trade and directly challenge China’s own sprawling overseas development
initiative, known as the Belt and Road, which has poured billions of dollars
into infrastructure projects each year.
Biden along with the leaders of India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates and the European Union signed a memorandum of understanding laying out
the new project on Saturday.
While the project will include building integrated infrastructure, the
president said it was “far from just laying tracks,” speaking with a group of
global leaders that included the United Kingdom, Japan and the United Arab
Emirates.
“It’s about creating jobs, increasing trade, strengthening supply chains,
boosting connectivity, laying foundations that will strengthen commerce and
food security for people across multiple countries,” Biden said. “This is a
game changing regional investment and … huge steps forward.”
“When we invest in low middle income countries,
all countries benefit,” Biden added. “When we invest in emerging economies, all
economies benefit, and when we invest in the future of people anywhere, people
everywhere benefit.”
The plans could pose a challenge to China’s Belt and Road initiative, which
the US says uses coercive lending practices for infrastructure projects in
developing countries, an accusation Beijing has repeatedly denied. Biden’s
proposals on World Bank reform similarly aim to offer a better deal to emerging
economies.
During his remarks at the event, Biden singled out particular leaders to
thank – including bin Salman. The leaders shook hands afterward, a decidedly
different approach than the fist bump Biden offered
the prince during a visit to Saudi Arabia last summer.
Speaking to reporters in India ahead of the announcement, Sullivan said
the project was about “strategically layering transformative investments across
multiple sectors across multiple countries, basically to leverage the broader
effects of boosting economic development, securing supply chains and bolstering
regional connectivity.”
He called it a “big deal, and important moment, and a milestone,” that
would “translate to a concrete outcome.”
Without Xi attending, Biden had the implicit opportunity to demonstrate
sustained American commitment while questioning China’s. American officials
said Saturday it wasn’t clear to them why Xi decided to skip the G20 for the
first time.
“I’m not sure we have a clear answer to that question, but really it’s
incumbent upon the Chinese government to explain why a leader would or would
not participate,” Finer said.
ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN – From ABC News
THE AFRICAN UNION IS JOINING THE G20, A
POWERFUL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF A CONTINENT OF 1 BILLION PEOPLE
The
decision by the Group of 20 of the world’s leading economies to admit the
African Union as a permanent member is a powerful acknowledgement of Africa as
its more than 50 countries seek a more important role on the global stage
By CARA
ANNA Associated Press
September 9, 2023, 2:00 AM
NAIROBI,
Kenya -- The group of the world's 20 leading
economies is welcoming the African Union as a permanent member, a powerful
acknowledgement of Africa as its more than 50 countries seek a more important
role on the global stage.
U.S.
President Joe Biden called last year for the AU’s permanent membership in the
G20, saying it’s been “a long time in coming.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi welcomed the current AU chair, Comoros President Azali
Assoumani, with a hug on Saturday at the G20 summit
his country is hosting, saying he was “elated.”
“Congratulations
to all of Africa!” said Senegal President Macky Sall, the previous AU chair who helped to push for
membership. The AU had advocated for full membership for seven years,
spokesperson Ebba Kalondo said. Until now, South
Africa was the bloc's only G20 member.
Here’s a
look at the AU and what its membership represents in a world where Africa is
central to discussions about climate change, food security, migration and other
issues.
Permanent
G20 membership signals the rise of a continent whose young population of 1.3
billion is set to double by 2050 and make up a quarter of the planet's people.
The AU's
55 member states, which include the disputed Western Sahara, have pressed for
meaningful roles in the global bodies that long represented a now faded
post-World War II order, including the United Nations Security Council. They
also want reforms to a global financial system - including the World Bank and
other entities - that forces African countries to pay more than others to
borrow money, deepening their debt.
Africa
is increasingly courting investment and political interest from a new
generation of global powers beyond the U.S. and the continent's former European
colonizers. China is Africa’s largest trading partner and one of its largest
lenders. Russia is its leading arms provider. Gulf nations have become some of
the continent’s biggest investors. Turkey ’s largest overseas military base and
embassy are in Somalia. Israel and Iran are increasing their outreach in search
of partners.
African
leaders have impatiently challenged the framing of the continent as a passive
victim of war, extremism, hunger and disaster that's pressured to take one side
or another among global powers. Some would prefer to be brokers, as shown by
African peace efforts following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Granting
the African Union membership in the G20 is a step that recognizes the continent
as a global power in itself.
With
full G20 membership, the AU can represent a continent that's home to the
world's largest free trade area. It's also enormously rich in the resources the
world needs to combat climate change, which Africa contributes to the least but
is affected by the most.
The
African continent has 60% of the world’s renewable energy assets and more than
30% of the minerals key to renewable and low-carbon technologies. Congo alone
has almost half of the world’s cobalt, a metal essential for lithium-ion
batteries, according to a United Nations report on Africa's economic
development released last month.
African
leaders are tired of watching outsiders take the continent’s resources for
processing and profits elsewhere and want more industrial development closer to
home to benefit their economies.
Take
Africa’s natural assets into account and the continent is immensely wealthy,
Kenyan President William Ruto said at the first Africa Climate Summit this
week. The gathering in Nairobi ended with a call for fairer treatment by
financial institutions, the delivery of rich countries’ long-promised $100
billion a year in climate financing for developing nations and a global tax on
fossil fuels.
Finding
a common position among the AU's member states, from the economic powers of
Nigeria and Ethiopia to some of the world’s poorest nations, can be a
challenge. And the AU itself has long been urged by some Africans to be more
forceful in its responses to coups and other crises.
The
body's rotating chairmanship, which changes annually, also gets in the way of
consistency, but Africa “will need to speak with one voice if it hopes to
influence G20 decision-making,” Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, a former prime minister of Niger, and Daouda Sembene, a former
executive director of the International Monetary Fund, wrote in Project
Syndicate this year.
African
leaders have shown their willingness to take such collective action. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, they united in loudly criticizing the hoarding of vaccines
by rich countries and teamed up to pursue bulk purchases of supplies for the
continent.
Now, as
a high-profile G20 member, Africa’s demands will be harder to ignore.
ATTACHMENT NINTEEN – From the Washington Post
G-20 result shows clout of Global South in
face of Europe’s priorities
By Karishma
Mehrotra Updated September
11, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. EDT|Published September
11, 2023 at 10:08 a.m. EDT
NEW
DELHI — Twenty of the world’s most important leaders sat in a room over the
weekend and hammered out a final statement they could all agree on that
downplayed the largest land war in Europe in more than half a century. It was a
startling sign of how global
power and priorities are moving away from Europe to the world’s developing
countries.
The final declaration of New Delhi’s Group of 20 summit carried
no mention of Russia in the language about the war in Ukraine — which has
dominated discourse in the West since its start a year and a half ago. Wording on the invasion was
substantially diluted from last year’s statement in Bali, Indonesia.
Analysts
say the language is an indication that the United States prioritized having a
consensus document led by India over a more aggressive condemnation of Russia
that would have been boycotted by some members.
At G-20, Biden
announces ambitious corridor connecting India, Europe
“The
most important shift in the Delhi summit is that developing countries had a
much stronger voice than they’ve had in the G-20 ever before,” said Nirupama
Subramanian, an Indian foreign policy commentator. “Wealthier countries
accepted that they cannot allow the Ukraine war to cause a breakdown of the
G-20. This is why they went along with a watering down on the language of the
war.”
The
greater openness by the United States toward the priorities of the Global South
and flexibility on the war language comes as China is gaining influence in the
BRICS forum, an expanding global group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa that excludes Washington.
The
recent BRICS summit “underscored … the rising importance of the Global South” and the forums that it
occupies with China and Russia, said Ian Lesser of the German Marshall Fund.
“There were
deep compromises made in regard to the language in regard to Ukraine, above
all, which might have been an anathema in other circumstances but here seemed
to be a price that the
‘West’ would pay in order give India a multilateral success, but to also to
underscore the importance of the G-20 as a vehicle for North-South relations,”
he said.
Lesser
added that Washington and Brussels have begun to see foreign policy as less
“perfectionist,” with many new stakeholders putting forward their priorities.
“I think this tells us what it will mean for multilateral diplomacy in the
future.”
The position of China also loomed large in
the calculations of the United States and its allies at the summit, a number of
analysts noted. Richard Gowen, the United Nations director at the International
Crisis Group, wrote in an email that it was about having India as a
counterweight to Beijing.
“By
contrast, they have come to accept that India is not going to turn against
Russia completely over Ukraine,” Gowen wrote. “So they had a choice. They could
either dig in over the Ukraine language and make India lose face, or compromise
over Ukraine and give Modi a win.”
Pramit Pal
Chaudhuri, South Asia practice head at the Eurasia Group, noted that the United
States had clearly concluded that “the real damage for American interests would be a failed G-20 summit,
because it would be a Chinese win at India’s expense.” Instead, “the
Americans threw all their weight behind the Indians. … The optics for the
Indians were very good.”
It became clear that Ukraine has “dropped off
the priority list” everywhere except for Europe, he added.
Meanwhile, “swing states”
— Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and India — emerged as a “bridge” between the
China-Russia bloc and the Western bloc.
“What is being realized is the perception in
the world that the West is so preoccupied with their own issues and that the
U.S. needs to do what it can to address that perception,” said an Indian
official who took part in the G-20 summit and spoke on the condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
In the
weeks running up to the summit, Indian officials had shown concern that the Ukraine war would make a joint
declaration out of reach. Ultimately, they surprised onlookers by announcing a
consensus — a day early — in a clear diplomatic win for the host country.
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While
the communiqué states that the G-20 is not the platform to
resolve “geopolitical and security issues,” it acknowledged the impact of the
“war in Ukraine,” and called for an end to “military destruction or other
attacks on relevant infrastructure” and an upholding of “territorial integrity
and sovereignty” — language that, by not directly mentioning in Russia, leaves
the aggressor open to interpretation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a
room of reporters over the weekend that the “Global South managed to prevent
the West’s attempts to once again, ‘Ukrainize’ the
entire agenda,” according to a translation of his statements. A
Ukrainian spokesperson said on Facebook that the declaration was “nothing to be proud
of.”
French
President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that the G-20 was not a forum for diplomacy
on the war, but maintained that the document still condemned the war.
Senior
U.S. officials also argued that there were no backdowns from commitments to
Ukraine.
“I’ve
seen some reporting that seems to imply what we think is actually not the
message that the G-20 sent on Ukraine,” said Jon Finer, the deputy national
security adviser, adding that major world economies, including Brazil, India,
and South Africa, are “united on the need to uphold international law and for
Russia to respect international law.”
Asked on
CNN whether he was disappointed that countries couldn’t agree to stronger
language, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said,
“No, I think it’s very important that the G-20 spoke as one.”
Still, Biden received some domestic
criticism.
“It was a win for Russia and China. They’re
celebrating today,” Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and Republican presidential candidate, said on CNN.
But Rajesh
Rajagopalan, a professor of international relations at Jawaharlal Nehru
University, said the forum weakened China’s claim of representing the Global
South, especially in the announcement of a new economic corridor that rivals
China’s Belt and Road Initiative and other development advances pushed through
with U.S. help.
However,
a question remains, Subramanian said. If the United States saw an Indian partnership against China as more important than “teaching
Russia a lesson,” she said, “is there going to be a real shift on the war on
the ground as well?”
Matt Viser in New Delhi and Adam Taylor in Washington contributed
to this report.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY – From Euronews.com
HERE'S WHAT TO WATCH
OUT FOR AT THE G20 SUMMIT 2023
By Verónica Romano Published on
07/09/2023 - 16:27•Updated 08/09/2023 - 10:14
Leaders of the richest countries will meet this
weekend in India to discuss the world’s biggest issues. But there’s a high
chance the power clashes between them will overshadow global problem solving.
New Delhi's crowded streets have been repaved.
Buildings and walls have been painted with bright murals. The city is abloom
with flowers.
The reason? The G20 summit.
This weekend leaders of the world’s richest and most
powerful countries will attend the two-day conference in the Indian capital.
Since India took over the G20 presidency
for 2023, it hasn’t been able to build consensus for a joint statement in any
of the previous key discussion points. One of the main hurdles has been Russia
and China’s objections to the wording referring to Moscow’s full-scale invasion
of Ukraine.
The prospect of the summit
ending with the usual agreement between member states and a joint leaders’
declaration may seem dim, but that’s all the more reason to keep an eye on what
goes on at the weekend.
The group, named after its founding members (Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa), formed as a way to amplify the voice of
those emerging economies on the global stage and promote trade
and development between them.
Now, with the incoming addition of
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the UAE, BRICS’s growing
influence on the global economy is sure to be “on the table” of the G20 summit,
according to economist Dennis Snower.
Snower, who is president of the non-profit Global Solutions Initiative,
suggested it’s possible the world is drifting from a position of global
cooperation, as initially envisaged under the G20, to one where countries in
separate blocs cooperate amongst themselves and compete or are even in conflict
with other blocs.
The latter scenario “would be a disaster,” Snower said.
There
is a terrible danger that different power blocs will seek to exert influence in
their own narrow interests instead of for the global common good.
The biggest fear is that global issues -- like
climate change, international safety, cyber security and nuclear disarmament --
that require every country to row in the same direction, take a backseat.
“Both developed and developing countries are
necessary to solve these problems. They each have their comparative advantages
and need one another”, Snower explained. “One hopes
very much that this alliance of developing countries [BRICS] is done in the
spirit of global problem solving.”
“There is a terrible danger that different power
blocs will seek to exert influence in their own narrow interests instead of for
the global common good,” he added.
The ‘long shadow’ of war in
Ukraine
There’s an issue that has cast a “long shadow” over
G20 meetings so far: the war in Ukraine, according to Snower.
The conflict has certainly driven an even bigger
wedge between global powers.
On one side, Ukraine fights with the support of the
European Union and the United States. Russia stands on the other, propped
up by assistance from China,
one of its closest allies.
This year, these two countries have so far blocked
binding agreements at all major G20 discussions, stemming from their objection
to calling the Ukrainian conflict a war.
The
next generation will not forgive us if we say we have forgotten about climate
change because of the war in Ukraine.
While Russia’s invasion is one of the biggest crises
of recent history, countries must learn to put their differences aside when
working on other global issues, according to Snower.
“This war is an important problem, but it should not
keep us from finding collaborative solutions in other areas that are not
related to it”, he said. “The next generation will not forgive us if we say we
have forgotten about climate change because of the war in Ukraine.”
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin won’t attend the
summit in India since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant
against him in March for alleged war crimes committed in
Ukraine. Excuse!
China’s President Xi Jinping is also skipping the event,
Beijing announced on Monday. Premier Li Qiang will
lead the country’s delegation in his stead.
There’s been no official explanation for Xi’s
absence, but some analysts say it could stem from a desire to stay on the same
page as Russia regarding the conflict in Ukraine. Solidarity?
Besides, relations between China and host India
aren’t the best. The two have a long-standing border dispute and New Delhi is
currently holding military exercises along the border with its northeastern neighbour.
India has also recently deepened its trade,
technology and military ties with the US, China’s long-time rival.
So, with all these power conflicts between
countries, it remains to be seen if they can reach a consensus by the end of
this weekend’s summit.
The future is never certain, but in case the leaders
can’t see eye to eye, there is another fruitful option.
In the end, it’s not all or
nothing
It wouldn’t be the first time the G20 members
haven’t all agreed with the leaders’ declaration, which reflects the countries’
joint commitment to the priorities discussed during the summit.
Until 2017, “it was assumed that everything in the
G20 is always settled by consensus”, Snower said.
Before the group’s summit in July that year in Germany, then-US President
Donald Trump said the country would withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.
Germany
wrote history with the 19 + 1 rule.
Despite the difficult circumstances, the German G20
Presidency succeeded in embedding the Paris Agreement into the bloc’s policies
while still maintaining dialogue with the US.
In the 2017 leaders’ declaration, 19 of the members
remained fully committed to climate action, and a paragraph laying out the US’s
deviating position made it possible for a passage on climate policy to be
adopted in the joint statement.
“Germany wrote history with the 19 + 1 rule,” Snower said.
Even though India might face two recalcitrant
opponents in Russia and China, there would still be “18 members who could focus
on a lot of global problems without getting distracted by the issues that
separate them”, Snower explained.
So, following in Germany’s footsteps, why not an 18
+ 2 rule this time?
“Disagreements would be noted, but it wouldn't be
the end of the world,” Snower said.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE – From the
BBC
RUSSIA HAILS UNEXPECTED G20
'MILESTONE' AS UKRAINE FUMES
By Zoya Mateen in Delhi and Simon Fraser in London
BBC News
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has praised a
joint declaration by G20 leaders in Delhi that avoids condemning Moscow for its
war against Ukraine.
Russia had not expected consensus and agreement on
the wording was "a step in the right direction", said Mr Lavrov.
The closing G20 statement denounced using force for
territorial gain but made no mention of Russian aggression, prompting criticism
from Ukraine.
The two-day summit also inducted a new permanent
member, the African Union.
The 55-member bloc joins at the invitation of hosts
India, one of whose key objectives while president has been to make the G20
more inclusive with greater participation of so-called Global South countries.
The world's biggest economies reached other key
deals in Delhi, including one on climate and biofuels - although there was
criticism of the summit's failure to commit to phasing out fossil fuels.
For the second year in a row, there was no official
G20 "family photo". No reason was given but reports say many leaders
refused to be photographed, pointing to Russia's presence at the summit.
·
How India brought
together nations with differing views
·
G20 laments war in Ukraine
but avoids blaming Russia
·
Delhi asserts its global
presence
Very few had expected a joint declaration at this
year's G20 - not least on the first day of the summit. The group is deeply
divided over last year's invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Neither Russia's
Vladimir Putin nor China's Xi Jinping turned up in Delhi, sending lower-level
delegations instead.
So there was surprise when, just hours after the summit started, Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced consensus had been reached on how to
phrase the Ukraine section of the statement, which saw last year's direct
criticism of Russia watered down.
Mr Lavrov told a news conference on Sunday that a "milestone" had
been reached.
"Speaking frankly we
didn't expect that. We were ready to defend our wording of the text. The Global
South is no longer willing to be lectured," he said in answer to a
question by the BBC's Yogita Limaye.
The UK and US talked up the joint statement too, but
Ukraine - which took part in last year's Bali summit but was not invited this
year - said it was "nothing to be proud of".
In Bali last year, most members had deplored
"in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against
Ukraine". In contrast, the Delhi declaration talks about "the human
suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to
global food and energy security".
It calls on states to "refrain from the threat
or use of force to seek territorial acquisition", which could be seen as
directed at Russia, but also notes "different views and assessments of the
situation".
Analysts say the economic balance and power dynamics
is shifting within the G20, away from advanced market economies of the West to
emerging giants, particularly in Asia.
There were other big moments at the summit too,
including ambitious deals aimed at tackling climate change.
The G20 members announced that they have reached a
100% consensus to "pursue and encourage efforts to triple renewable energy
capacity globally through existing targets and policies". The bloc
accounts for more than 75% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
And India launched a global biofuel alliance with US
and Brazil to boost the use of cleaner fuels. The grouping is aimed at
accelerating global efforts to meet net zero emissions targets by facilitating
trade in biofuels derived from sources including plant and animal waste.
There was also a multinational rail and ports deal
linking the Middle East and South Asia on the sidelines of the summit. The pact
is seen as a counter to China's Belt and Road push on global infrastructure.
Early on Sunday afternoon, Mr
Modi closed the summit, ending months of fanfare and anticipation. He handed a
ceremonial gavel to President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva of Brazil, which is taking over the presidency.
Problems faced by developing countries dominated
President Lula's speech.
"We are living in a world where wealth is more
concentrated, in which millions of human beings still go hungry, where
sustainable development is always threatened, in which global governance
institutions still reflect the reality of middle of the last century," he
said.
Monsoon downpours had dampened some planned events
earlier in the day - leaders walked in the rain to pay respects to India's
independence hero Mahatma Gandhi at the site of his cremation. A tree planting
ceremony was downgraded to a symbolic exchange of saplings between G20 presidents past, present and future.
Mr Modi's government has put on an extravagant show from start to finish,
with delegates being treated to cultural performances, a gala dinner party and
the very best of Indian hospitality.
But it also stirred up a few controversies,
especially after Mr Modi's placard as he opened the
summit referred to India as "Bharat" (which means India in Hindi),
sparking speculation of a possible change of name for the country.
Mr Modi and his ministers, however, called the event a huge success and
said that India's G20 presidency had proven its abilities as a global leader.
"We have sought to make this G20 as inclusive
as possible," Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India had
managed to ensure that differences over issues do not overshadow core
developmental concerns of the global community.
"India's G20 Presidency has walked the talk
successfully," she said.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO – From CNN
5 TAKEAWAYS FROM JOE BIDEN’S TRIP TO THE G20
AND VIETNAM
By Kevin Liptak, 6:51 AM EDT, Mon September 11, 2023
New DelhiCNN —
President Joe
Biden is nearing the end of a whirlwind trip to India and Vietnam for
a series of high-profile meetings aimed at countering China’s influence in the
developing world.
At the G20 in New Delhi and again in Hanoi, Biden used his swing through
Asia to make the case that the US is a more reliable and trustworthy partner
than Beijing, though he emphasized that he did not want a new Cold War with the
Chinese.
“I don’t want to contain China, I just want to make sure we have a
relationship with China that is on the up-and-up squared away, and everyone knows
what it’s all about,” Biden said. “We have an opportunity to strengthen
alliances around the world to maintain stability. That’s what this trip is all
about, having India cooperate much more with United States, be closer to the
United States, Vietnam being closer with the United States. It’s not about
containing China. It’s about having a stable base – a stable base in
Indo-Pacific.”
In speaking to General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng of the Communist
Party of Vietnam on Sunday, Biden underscored this point.
“I think we have an enormous opportunity,” he said, adding: “Vietnam and
the United States are critical partners at what I would argue is a very
critical time. I’m not saying that to be polite. I’m saying it because I mean
it from the bottom of my heart.”
He referenced supply chains and climate change and hailed “aspirations
for a future of greater peace, greater security and greater prosperity.”
“I’m convinced we can achieve it,” he said, adding: “This can be the
beginning of even a greater era of cooperation.”
But despite Biden’s hopes, there were still signs of the fractures that
are coursing through current geopolitics, both at the G20 summit and in Hanoi.
Here are five takeaways from the president’s trip to New Delhi and Hanoi.
US praises G20 statement on Ukraine, even if it’s
softer than hoped
Leaders managed to agree
on a joint statement laying out shared views on climate change
and economic development but showed the fractures within the group by stopping
short of explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Diplomats had been working furiously to draft a final joint statement in
the lead-up to the summit but hit snags on language to describe the Ukraine
war. Officials
said they worked through 300 hours of meetings and went through
15 drafts to arrive at an eventual consensus.
The eventual compromise statement amounted to a coup for the summit’s host,
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but still reflected a position far softer
than those the United States and its Western allies have adopted individually.
“All states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek
territorial acquisition,” the declaration read, without explicitly singling out
Russia for its invasion. The document also stated opposition to the use of
nuclear weapons and highlighted the economic effects of the war.
In a reflection of the deep fractures among the G20 nations, the
statement acknowledged “there were different views and assessments of the
situation.”
The declaration earned the praise of the United States. National security
adviser Jake Sullivan called the statement a “significant milestone for India’s
chairmanship and a vote of confidence that the G20 can come together to address
a pressing range of issues.”
“The G20 statement includes a set of consequential paragraphs on the war
in Ukraine. And from our perspective, it does a very good job of standing up
for the principle that states cannot use force to seek territorial
acquisition,” Sullivan said.
Still, the language differed from last year’s G20 declaration, which
stated “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine.”
Russia, as a member of the G20, would
have to agree on any consensus statement on Ukraine. Russia and
China had resisted stronger language in a final statement, making any kind of
agreement difficult. No G20 summit has concluded without a joint declaration of
some type.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko
criticized the declaration.
“Ukraine is grateful to its partners who tried to include strong wording
in the text,” he wrote on Facebook. “At the same time, the G20 has nothing to
be proud of in the part about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Obviously,
the participation of the Ukrainian side would have allowed the participants to
better understand the situation. The principle of ‘nothing about Ukraine
without Ukraine’ remains as key as ever.”
Biden offers an alternative to China’s Belt and Road
Biden hoped to use new announcements on new infrastructure and
investments as demonstration of US commitment to the developing world, and a
better option for partnership than China. He announced the launch of a new
economic corridor that will connect India, the Middle East and Europe on
Saturday.
The plans could potentially transform global trade and directly challenge
China’s own sprawling overseas development initiative, known as the Belt and
Road, which has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects each
year. While the project will include building integrated infrastructure, the
president said it was “far from just laying tracks,” speaking with a group of
global leaders that included the United Kingdom, Japan and the United Arab
Emirates.
“It’s about creating jobs, increasing trade, strengthening supply chains,
boosting connectivity, laying foundations that will strengthen commerce and
food security for people across multiple countries,” Biden said. “This is a
game changing regional investment and … huge steps forward.”
The US says the Belt and Road initiative uses coercive lending practices
for infrastructure projects in developing countries, an accusation Beijing has
repeatedly denied. Biden’s proposals on World Bank reform similarly aim to
offer a better deal to emerging economies.
G20 hosts disappointed at Xi and Putin’s absence
White House officials called it “a disappointment” to India that
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not
participate in the summit, but added that the United States
intended to use it as an opportunity to strengthen relationships with the rest
of the nations that attended.
“I will say that I think for our Indian partners, there is substantial
disappointment that they’re not here and gratitude that we are,” deputy
assistant to the president and coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell
told reporters shortly after Biden’s meeting with Modi.
It was the first time Xi missed a G20 since taking office in 2012. While
that was a lost opportunity in some ways – Biden and Xi met for hours at last
year’s G20 in Bali – it also freed the stage for the US to make its argument
for American partnerships.
At a moment when the very fragile state of China’s economy is causing
deep concern about global ripple effects, Biden hoped to use the relative
strength of the American market to make his pitch. Campbell said there were
“undeniable opportunities” for the US at the summit given the leaders who were
attending – and those who didn’t.
“I think we fully intend to strengthen and deepen our relationship, and
we leave it to China in particular to discuss and explain why they are not
here. It’s really their business,” he said.
Biden tries to pull Vietnam closer to US
Biden’s trip to Hanoi was his latest
attempt to pull another one of China’s neighbors closer to the
United States. In just the last five months, Biden has hosted the Philippines’
president at the White House for the first time in over a decade; he has fêted
the Indian prime minister with a lavish state dinner; and he has hosted his
Japanese and South Korean counterparts for a summit ripe with symbolism at the
storied Camp David presidential retreat.
The latest page in the US’s Indo-Pacific playbook will come via the
establishment of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that will put the US
on par with Vietnam’s highest tier of partners, including China, according to
US officials familiar with the matter.
In Vietnam, it’s not only China whose influence Biden is competing with.
As he arrived, reports suggested Hanoi was preparing a secret purchase of
weapons from Russia, its longtime arms supplier. On Monday, Biden plans to
announce steps to help Vietnam diversify away from an over-reliance on Russian
arms, a senior administration official said.
The upgrading of the US-Vietnam relationship carries huge significance
given Washington’s complicated history with Hanoi. The two countries have gone
from mortal enemies that fought a devastating war to increasingly close
partners, even with Vietnam still run by the same Communist forces that
ultimately prevailed and sent the US military packing.
As China’s economy slows down and its leader ratchets up military
aggressions, Biden hopes to make the United States appear a more attractive and
reliable partner. In New Delhi, he did so by wielding proposals to boost global
infrastructure and development programs as a counterweight to China.
Vietnam has also sought to maintain good ties with China. Its Communist
Party chief was the first foreign leader to call on Xi in Beijing after the
Chinese leader secured an unprecedented third term last October. In June,
Vietnam’s prime minister met Xi during a state visit to China.
But even as it seeks to avoid China’s wrath, Vietnam is increasingly pulled
toward the US out of economic self-interest – its trade with the US has
ballooned in recent years and it is eager to benefit from American efforts to
diversify supply chains outside of China – as well as concern over China’s
military build-up in the South China Sea.
Awkward moment at press conference
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
on Sunday abruptly
ended a news conference with Biden in Hanoi, at one point taking a
microphone and announcing the event was concluded even as the president was
still answering questions from reporters in the room.
As the president was responding to shouted questions from the press, the
press secretary took to the microphone to announce, “Thank you everybody – this
ends the press conference.” Biden remained on stage briefly following
Jean-Pierre’s announcement, responding to one additional question, though his
full answer was inaudible.
Biden had, at that point, taken the five questions from reporters in the
room that he said he would, before announcing, “I tell you what, I don’t know
about you, but I’m going to bed.” The White House announced at the start of the
press conference that Biden planned to take questions from five reporters.
However, the president lingered on stage, responding to additional
questions about what he said to Chinese Premier Li Qiang
before he was interrupted by the press secretary.
Throughout the presser, Biden acknowledged the demands of the whirlwind
trip, joking at one point, “These five-day trips around the world are no
problem.” Minutes before Jean-Pierre ended the press conference, Biden had
delivered a lengthy answer that involved a rambling explanation of why he uses
the phrase “lying dog-faced pony soldier” in an attempt to explain his feelings
about politicians who deny the existence of climate change
The moment comes days after a CNN poll showed about three-quarters of
Americans say they are concerned Biden’s age might negatively affect his
current level of physical and mental competence and his ability to serve
another full term if reelected. Biden’s defenders brushed off concerns about
his age and the White House has frequently pointed to his energy levels on
grueling international trips such as the current one as proof that his age is
not an issue.
CNN’s Donald Judd, Nikki Carvajal and Jeremy Diamond
contributed to this report
ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE – From the
Washington Post
THE G-20 SHOULD ABOLISH ITSELF
By John
R. Bolton
September
11, 2023 at 7:15 a.m. EDT
John R.
Bolton served as national security adviser under President Donald Trump and is the author of “The Room Where It Happened: A White
House Memoir.”
The
annual Group of 20 festivities, this year in India, are now concluded. It is appropriate to ask exactly what these
gatherings accomplish. For
the process-obsessed, every international meeting among heads of state or
diplomats is positive, regardless of whether anything concrete is achieved. The
G-20 exemplifies this misconception. Mountains of final communiqués, joint
statements and outcome documents have contributed to global deforestation but
little else.
Moreover,
leaders’ summits are preceded by endless cabinet-level meetings: foreign
ministers, treasury ministers and environmental ministers, all producing rivers
of deathless prose. Who remembers, though, the ringing declarations of last year’s G-20 gathering in Bali, much less those of
previous years?
Consider
what gave real impetus to the annual G-20 process, the 2008 financial crisis.
In November 2009, with his history a little shaky, incoming European Council
President Herman Van Rompuy (a former Belgian prime minister) proclaimed 2009
to be “the first year of global governance, with the
establishment of the G-20 in the middle of the financial crisis. The climate
conference in Copenhagen is another step toward the global management of our
planet.” One can only
imagine how many Americans remain unaware of the G-20’s role in global
governance, much less agree that there should be global governance or a G-20
role in it.
Van
Rompuy’s job helps explain the global-governance mind-set, which infects the
G-20 and other international “institutions.” The European Council consists of
European Union heads of state or government. Its presidency once rotated every
six months among the members, until the Treaty of Lisbon created a 30-month presidential term,
renewable once. Van Rompuy was the first president so elected, making him in
E.U. eyes equivalent to the president of the United States. Fancy that. No
wonder he was qualified to speak of global governance.
Many
originally saw the G-20 as a broader alternative to the global West’s Group of
Seven, comprising the world’s largest industrial democracies. The G-7 itself
has had its ups and downs. For example, it became a G-8 by adding Russia, but
Moscow’s inconvenient 2014 Ukraine invasion resulted in its expulsion. It was
the G-7’s weak response in 2014 and later, reflecting the West’s collective
failure to punish Russia, that undoubtedly emboldened Moscow to invade Ukraine
even further last year. The attack galvanized the G-7, surprisingly, more than
anything in several decades.
By
contrast even to the G-7 herd of cats, the G-20 has been feckless. Because the
group includes Russia and China, its final joint statement in India
contained only an anodyne comment on Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine,
even weaker than its 2022 statement. Every G-20 member holds veto power over a
consensus leaders’ statement, so it should be no surprise that nothing much
happened this weekend in New Delhi, as in the United Nations Security Council,
where Russia and China also hold veto power.
When
asked to justify the G-20, supporters invariably say it provides a useful
platform for members to confer bilaterally outside the larger meeting. It is true the G-20 enables this
diplomatic version of speed dating, but so do any number of other forums, not
least the U.N. General Assembly’s opening next week in New York. The
real question is whether endless rounds of brief encounters have
any measurable utility.
President
Biden’s Friday meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi derived nothing
from being attached to a G-20 gathering. The meeting could have important
consequences, as could Biden’s announcement of new rail and shipping connections among
India, the Middle East and Europe. But it could just as easily have taken place,
and perhaps with even greater media coverage, during a stand-alone visit by the
U.S. president. Biden’s second stop on this trip, Vietnam, was also
strategically correct — and was enhanced by his not being surrounded in Hanoi
by a small mob of other world leaders.
Many
observers correctly noted that the absences in India of Russia’s Vladimir Putin
and China’s Xi Jinping gave Biden a solo opportunity to make America’s case on
key issues. But there is substantial reason to think China and Russia simply
don’t value the G-20 as much as other forums. Putin hasn’t attended since the
2019 G-20 in Japan (2020 being a virtual summit for all because of the
pandemic). Xi skipped 2021 (beaming in only by video) as well as this year. If
the G-20 were so important, it is inexplicable that Xi
chose not to make even a brief appearance, especially in India, where his
absence is being taken as a slap in the face.
It takes
nothing away from India, and its extensive preparations for this G-20, to
emphasize how evanescent these meetings are. In international affairs,
pretending is not a sound basis for policy. Eliminating G-20 meetings would
free up the leaders’ time to focus on real issues, not diplomatic niceties.
ATTACHMENT
TWENTY FOUR – Appendix: Press Freedom From Best to
Worst
ATTACHMENT TWENTY X – From
2023 GLOBAL
SCORE
1Norway95.18
2Ireland89.91
3Denmark89.48
4Sweden88.15
5Finland87.94
6Netherlands87
7Lithuania86.79
8Estonia85.31
9Portugal84.6
10Timor-Leste84.49
11Liechtenstein84.47
12Switzerland84.4
13New Zealand84.23
14Czech Republic83.58
15Canada83.53
16Latvia83.27
17Slovakia83.22
18Iceland83.19
19Samoa82.15
20Luxembourg81.98
21Germany81.91
22Namibia80.91
23Costa Rica80.2
24France78.72
25South Africa78.6
26United Kingdom78.51
27Australia78.24
28Moldova77.62
29Austria77.3
30Trinidad and Tobago76.54
31Belgium76.47
32Jamaica75.89
33Cabo Verde75.72
34Seychelles75.71
35Taiwan75.54
36Spain75.37
37Andorra75.05
38North Macedonia74.35
39Montenegro74.28
40Argentina73.36
41Italy72.05
42Croatia71.95
43Dominican Republic71.88
44Tonga71.29
45United States71.22
46Gambia71.06
47South Korea70.83
48Suriname70.62
49Armenia70.61
50Slovenia70.59
51Belize70.49
52Uruguay70.33
53Romania69.04
54Ivory Coast68.83
55Cyprus68.62
56Kosovo68.38
57Poland67.66
58Burkina Faso67.64
59Papua New Guinea67.62
60Guyana67.5
61Niger66.84
62Ghana65.93
63Mauritius65.56
64Bosnia-Herzegovina65.43
65Botswana64.61
66Liberia64.34
67Lesotho64.29
68Japan63.95
69Panama63.67
70Togo63.06
71Bulgaria62.98
72Hungary62.96
73Malaysia62.83
74Sierra Leone62.55
75Comoros62.25
76Northern Cyprus61.73
77Georgia61.69
78Guinea Bissau61.57
79Ukraine61.19
80Ecuador60.51
81Congo-Brazzaville60.42
82Malawi60.34
83Chile60.09
84Malta59.76
85Guinea59.51
86Mauritania59.45
87Zambia59.41
88Mongolia59.33
89Fiji59.27
90Bhutan59.25
91Serbia59.16
92Brazil58.67
93OECS58.36
94Gabon58.12
95Nepal57.89
96Albania57.86
97Israel57.57
98Central African Republic57.56
99Haïti57.38
100Maldives56.93
101Madagascar56.66
102Mozambique56.13
103Paraguay55.96
104Senegal55.82
105Qatar55.28
106Thailand55.24
107Greece55.2
108Indonesia54.83
109Chad53.73
110Peru52.74
111Eswatini52.66
112Benin52.44
113Mali52.29
114Burundi52.14
115El Salvador51.36
116Kenya51.15
117Bolivia51.09
118South Sudan50.62
119Lebanon50.46
120Equatorial Guinea50.35
121Tunisia50.11
122Kyrgyzstan49.91
123Nigeria49.56
124Democratic Republic of Congo48.55
125Angola48.3
126Zimbabwe48.17
127Guatemala48.12
128Mexico47.98
129Singapore47.88
130Ethiopia47.7
131Rwanda46.58
132Philippines46.21
133Uganda46.08
134Kazakhstan45.87
135Sri Lanka45.85
136Algeria45.74
137Uzbekistan45.73
138Cameroon45.58
139Colombia45.23
140Hong Kong44.86
141Somalia44.24
142Brunei44.2
143Tanzania44.02
144Morocco / Western Sahara43.69
145United Arab Emirates42.99
146Jordan42.79
147Cambodia42.02
148Sudan40.83
149Libya40.22
150Pakistan39.95
151Azerbaijan39.93
152Afghanistan39.75
153Tajikistan39.06
154Kuwait38.84
155Oman37.87
156Palestine37.86
157Belarus37.17
158Nicaragua37.09
159Venezuela36.99
160Laos36.66
161India36.62
162Djibouti35.87
163Bangladesh35.31
164Russia34.77
165Türkiye33.97
166Egypt33.37
167Iraq32.94
168Yemen32.78
169Honduras32.65
170Saudi Arabia32.43
171Bahrain30.59
172Cuba29
173Myanmar28.26
174Eritrea27.86
175Syria27.22
176Turkmenistan25.82
177Iran24.81
178Vietnam24.58
179China22.97
180North Korea21.72