India readies for global summit

AFP | New Delhi

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

US President Joe Biden heads to India for the G20 summit this weekend aiming to capitalise on the glaring absence of China’s and Russia’s leaders to bolster alliances in the sharply divided bloc. Host India has coined the optimistic slogan “One Earth, One Family, One Future”.

The G20 consists of 19 countries and the European Union, making up about 85% of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population.

Deep disagreements on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the phasing out of fossil fuels and debt restructuring will dominate talks and likely hamper agreements at the two-day meeting in New Delhi from Saturday to Sunday.

Biden will discuss “a range of joint efforts to tackle global issues” including climate change and “mitigating the economic and social impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine”, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said ahead of the summit.

China’s Xi Jinping, president of the world’s second-largest economy, will miss the meeting at a time of heightened trade and geopolitical tensions with the United States and India, with which it shares a long and disputed border.

Beijing also bristles at India’s membership in the so-called Quad, a security partnership with Australia, Japan and the United States that China views as an effort to contain its influence in Asia.

China has given no reason why Xi will not attend the September 9-10 summit, confirming only that Premier Li Qiang would join the leaders of the world’s biggest economies, which account for about 85 percent of global GDP and greenhouse gas emissions.

India, fresh from celebrating the cementing of its position as a space power by landing a craft on the Moon in August, has portrayed its hosting of the G20 as a comingof-age moment that makes it a key global player.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pitched India as a self-styled leader of the “Global South”, a bridge between developed and developing countries, and has pushed to expand the bloc into the “G21” with the inclusion of the African Union.

Rest of the world

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be among the leaders representing the European Union.

Fellow G7 members Britain, Canada, Japan and Italy will be represented by their respective premiers Rishi Sunak, Justin Trudeau, Fumio Kishida and Giorgia Meloni. From the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will take part.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend in person, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is also expected.

A delegation from the only African nation in the G20, South Africa, will be led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is coming and Argentina’s Alberto Fernandez is expected, but Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is likely to skip according to Indian media.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend as an observer, with the heads of the IMF and the World Bank also in attendance.

Other leaders expected to attend include Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.