G20: India’s platform for global leadership

Source– The post is based on the article “G20: India’s platform for global leadership” published in The Hindu on 2nd March 2023.

Syllabus: GS2- Global Groupings and Agreements affecting India’s interests.

Relevance: Development related to G20

News- India recently hosted the meeting of the G20 finance minister as its current chair.

Why does the G20 seem to be in a deadlock?

Foreign Ministers of Japan and South Korea declined to attend the Delhi meet. Russia, China and the EU publicly stuck to their differing positions on the war in Ukraine.

For the first time ever, the group could not agree on an outcome document in a recent meeting of foreign ministers.

India found itself in an uneasy situation. It was not able to explain whether it supported its own

Chair’s summary. The summary noted that the majority of states condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rejected the use or the threat of use of nuclear weapons.

India has reservations about calling Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine a war at all. India wanted the conflict to be referred to as a crisis.

There was little time left for discussions on debt restructuring and cryptocurrency regulation.

Why should India take a stand on Russia’s invasion of UKraine at president of G20?

Condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not about supporting the United States or encouraging NATO expansion. It is about upholding the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity enshrined in the UN Charter.

These are also the same principles that India has relied on for international support in the four wars that it has fought since independence.

The concern is global. This is not just a European problem. The war has affected oil and gas prices, exacerbated inflation and disrupted global food supplies and prices.

Further, it has escalated nuclear risks. There is a big threat to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, all five of which have come under direct shelling this past year.

If war continues for a longer time, Russia will be weaker due to sanctions and isolation by developed economies. It will become more dependent on China. The irony of India not taking sides means that it is helping Russia become a client state of China.

India played a vital role last year in reaching consensus at the Bali summit. It would be a tragedy if India is not able to do so at New Delhi.