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NEW DELHI (dpa-AFX) – With a hard-won compromise on the Ukraine war, the group of leading industrialized and emerging countries prevented the G20 summit in India from failing. At the weekend in New Delhi, the heads of state and government demonstrated the will to continue to work together to find solutions to humanity’s problems such as climate change and poverty – even if the results this time remained poor.
Ukraine expressed anger because the Russian war of aggression was not explicitly condemned in the final declaration. Russia prevented this with the support of China. The West still sees the text as clear criticism of Russia – but Moscow also praised the result and claimed it as a success.
Because of the dispute, it was now unclear whether a joint summit declaration would even be reached or whether the summit would fail. The meeting was also affected by the cancellation of the Chinese head of state Xi Jinping, who was represented by Prime Minister Li Qiang – a shock to the host India.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the summit the motto: “One Earth, one Family, one Future” and made himself an advocate for the poorer states in the world – the so-called Global South – appointed.
The most visible success of his strategy was the admission of the African Union (AU) as a full member of the G20 right at the start of the summit. The AU represents the interests of around 1.3 billion people.
Brazil, which will take over the G20 presidency for a year from December, wants to put the fight against hunger and inequality at the center of its work next year, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) praised the spirit of the meeting: “A new coexistence between North and South is what was achieved here at the G20 summit in New Delhi.” For US President Joe Biden, the summit proved that even in difficult economic times, “the G20 is capable of looking for solutions to our most pressing problems.”
Unlike last year’s summit in Bali, Indonesia, the Russian war of aggression could no longer be explicitly condemned by a majority of countries. Instead, the final declaration refers to relevant United Nations resolutions – and generally to territorial integrity, i.e. the inviolability of borders.
Nevertheless, Scholz appreciated the passage: Decisions were made in which “Russia had to accept that the global community does not find the violent principles of Russian politics correct.”
About the possible participation of the Russian President Wladimir Putin Scholz did not want to speculate at the next G20 summit in Brazil in 2024. Lula da Silva had previously said: “If I am president and he comes to Brazil, there is no way he will be arrested.” The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who represented Putin in New Delhi, was very pleased with the results. Today the West is losing its “supremacy” in the world and a multipolar world order is gaining weight, he said. “The West cannot remain a hegemon, considering that objectively new global centers are emerging and gaining strength.” Thanks to the unity of the “global south” it was possible to prevent the summit from being “Ukrainized”.
There was great anger in Ukraine about the summit declaration. In Bali, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj had spoken to the summit via video, but this time he was unable to do so. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser in the presidential office, accused Lavrov of spreading war propaganda at the summit. More international arrest warrants for war crimes such as those against Putin are needed in order to prevent appearances by “subjects like Lavrov”.
Climate activists complained about an “absurdly large” gap between the G20 nations’ promises and their actual commitment to combating global warming. At the summit in New Delhi, Russia and Saudi Arabia in particular prevented an exit from oil and gas from being announced in the final declaration, said Christoph Bals from Germanwatch, for example.
In view of the dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI), EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed the establishment of a new global advisory body. A body similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) could deal with the social risks, but also with the possible benefits of the technology.
Another point of contention in New Delhi was whether the G20 summit in 2026 should be hosted in the USA or elsewhere. According to diplomats, the USA prevailed against China. After Brazil next year, it will be South Africa’s turn in 2025./DP/he