Domestically, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has earned credit for having hosted a summit that announced his country’s diplomatic coming of age, and if he reaps dividends from this achievement in the upcoming general election, he deserves every ounce of that credit. Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped the summit, sending Premier Li Qiang in his place.
The recently concluded Group of 20 (G20) summit held in India was a diplomatic success. The meeting adopted a consensus declaration that committed the bloc to action on several issues, including food and energy security, climate change and global debt vulnerabilities. On a geopolitical front scarred by the Ukraine war, India was able to get members to sign on to a common statement that denounced the use of force for territorial gain.
However, the statement did not mention Russia as the aggressor in Ukraine, leading its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was standing in for President Vladimir Putin, to declare that his country was “able to prevent the West’s attempts to ‘Ukrainise’ the summit agenda”. Ukraine was predictably upset at this outcome, in which India had been able to steer the G20 away from being held hostage by a single issue.
