G20 summit in New Delhi: How the global media views the event

According to the release, Biden and Modi “reaffirmed their commitment to the G20 and expressed confidence that the outcomes of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi will advance the shared goals of accelerating sustainable development, bolstering multilateral cooperation, and building global consensus around inclusive economic policies to address our greatest common challenges, including fundamentally reshaping and scaling up multilateral development banks.” The also highlighted the Quad’s importance in maintaining “a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific”.

Modi told Biden he’d look forward to hosting him at the next Quad Leaders’ Summit in India in 2024. India welcomed the US’s co-leadership of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) Pillar on Trade Connectivity and Maritime Transport, building on its recent accession to IPOI in June 2023. Significantly, Biden reiterated his support for a reformed UN Security Council (UNSC), advocating for India as a permanent member and its candidature for a non-permanent UNSC seat in 2028-29, underlining the need to reform the multilateral system to better align with current global realities.

The two leaders signalled their intent to establish a Working Group for commercial space collaboration under the existing India-U.S. Civil Space Joint Working Group. The US and India are determined to deepen their partnership in outer space exploration, with discussions underway for a joint mission to the International Space Station in 2024. Plans are also in motion to finalise a strategic framework for human space flight cooperation by the end of 2023.

India’s G20 presidency in world’s eye

The New Delhi declaration holds the promise of addressing critical challenges, but what remains to be seen is the consensus among G20 member nations on key issues. The leaders face a formidable task: finding common ground in a landscape marred by division, changing geopolitical realities and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Modi faces the unenviable task of bridging the gap between the world’s largest developed and developing nations during the summit. However, the conspicuous absences of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping not just highlight the fractures within the group, but also the G20’s struggle for relevance. As British newspaper Observer’s Larry Elliott puts it succinctly: “The fact that issuing a bland communique is seen as an achievement tells its own story. The G20 has seriously lost its way.”

The G20, conceived in the late 1990s, reached its zenith during the global financial crisis of the late 2000s when wealthy and developing nations collaborated to mitigate the fallout from the near-collapse of the global banking system. Recognising the “shifting tectonic plates” of the world economy, the G20 was formed to bring together major economies responsible for approximately 80% of global GDP. It seemed poised to tackle urgent issues such as climate change, financial stability, and debt relief for impoverished nations. However, the G20’s actual record has fallen short of its potential, with meaningful agreements proving elusive since the high point of cooperation achieved in London in 2009, writes Elliott, adding that Modi’s ambition to expand the G20’s membership to include the African Union, while a step toward inclusivity, might complicate decision-making further.

The Western countries’ efforts to impose an economic blockade on Russia face resistance from China and India, which continue to import Russian oil. Meanwhile, China and India themselves grapple with a longstanding border dispute and economic rivalry. Modi, while seeking closer economic ties with the US, aims to remain impartial in the evolving US-China rivalry. The G20 could play a crucial role in averting an impending debt crisis in the world’s poorest nations, but it requires the US and China to set aside their differences. And since this appears to be unlikely, the impasse looks inevitable to continue. .

Doubts over a joint communique

The Guardian’s Diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour writes that since China and Russia have refused to allow discussions on Ukraine, it has raised serious doubts about the possibility of a joint communique. India could reiterate what was agreed upon during the last G20 in Bali, but Russia argues that intense Western intervention since then has rendered the Bali baseline untenable. The absence of a joint statement would be a major disappointment for India, which is keen to act as a mediator on behalf of the global south, writes Wintour.

The US, seizing on Xi Jinping’s last-minute withdrawal, intends to use the summit as an opportunity to address multilateral problems facing developing countries. Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, has pledged a “value proposition” encompassing debt relief, technology, bank reform, and climate action. Sullivan has also endorsed a better-funded World Bank as a positive alternative to China’s Belt and Road initiative.

In her podcast, ‘Minute Briefing’, Keith Collins of The Wall Street Journal said that though Xi Jinping and Putin have given the event a miss, their influence will be felt as the US seeks to strengthen ties to India to help counter China. Divisions among the G20 members have raised doubts about whether they’ll be able to adopt a joint statement, including a position on the war in Ukraine, Collins opines.

Meanwhile, India has been holding discussions with England about visa policies, but numerous contentious issues remain, including intellectual property protection and manufacturing regulations for lower tariffs. Direct discussions between UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Modi are expected to be crucial in overcoming these obstacles, hopes Wintour. In the end, even if the summit manages to get a joint leaders’ declaration, the differences over Russia-Ukraine war is likely to take the negotiations till the very last minute.

India presents a ‘cleaned-up version’ to the world

Publications in Russia and China chose to relegate the G20 story to brief news items. Most reports centered on the fact that India was ‘trying hard’ to present its cleaned-up face to the visiting dignitaries. A report by Xinhua, a prominent news outlet in China, published in People’s Daily China describes how Delhi has ramped up security arrangements for the summit. It mentions how over 100,000 police and security personnel have been patrolling the streets, using advanced technology like fighter jets, AI-based cameras, drones, jamming devices, and sniffer dogs to ensure a seamless G20 Summit.

The ‘temporary’ transformation of the city has not escaped the attention of the foreign press. BBC’s Samira Hussain reports how Delhi underwent a makeover in the lead-up to the event. She reports how the city's skyline is adorned with posters and billboards, generating excitement even among ordinary citizens. However, this beautification drive has also had a darker side, with slums concealed from view by temporary barriers, and in some cases, residents displaced and their homes demolished. A slum-dweller poignantly says: “We were the proverbial scars on the moon. So, we were removed.”

In French newspaper Le Monde, its New Delhi correspondent Sophie Landrin writes that Modi makes New Delhi’s poverty ‘temporarily disappear’ for the G20 summit. “For several weeks now, a surreal atmosphere has prevailed in Delhi. Every day, the Indian capital looks slightly different from the day before. Hundreds of thousands of plants have sprouted along the roadsides, walls have been freshly painted, road tunnels adorned with murals and traffic circles decorated with new fountains and statues of lions and elephants. Lawns are freshly mowed and cleared of debris. The city, once hostile to pedestrians, is now equipped with sidewalks, even bicycle paths and street lamps. Giant foggers crisscross the roads, spraying water to settle airborne dust. The Indian capital... is unrecognizable. The city, usually chaotic and congested, is now as clean as a Swiss village. Of course, the beautification efforts don’t cover the whole of this metropolis of 25 million inhabitants, which stretches for almost 50 kilometers. Only the southern part, the colonial New Delhi designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens, has been upgraded,” she writes.