Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
14 September 2023 | 17:14 CAT

Image: BusinessLIVE

The G20 Summit in New Delhi ended Sunday as India handed the bloc presidency to Brazil. At the same time, the U.S. and Russia praised a consensus that did not condemn Moscow for the war in Ukraine but called on members to shun the use of force.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the group’s leaders to hold a virtual meeting in November to review progress on policy suggestions and goals announced at the weekend.

“It is our responsibility to look at the suggestions that have been made to see how progress can be accelerated,” he said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the head of the Russian delegation, said the summit was a success for India and the Global South, the world’s developing countries.

However, the Managing Director of International Interest, a global risk and intelligence company, Sami Hamdi, argues the entire G20 was less about India. Instead, the fundamentals of the G20 were about Washington trying to demonstrate that it is still the ruling power, that the Chinese threat is still potent as everybody claims it is, and that it can still get an agreement among G20 states.

“The entire G20 was about Washington trying to show the world that BRICS in not necessarily a challenge nor an opponent and that the G20 still matters, the U.S. is still here and can still broker agreements and in the mega middle east project Biden is trying to show that he can convince those who are drifting toward China that the main investment and money should go toward Western interest before Chinese interest,” Hamdi said.

The summit also admitted the African Union, which includes 55 member states, as a permanent member of the G20, underlining the bloc’s inclusivity of more developing countries.

Analysts say the economic balance and power dynamics are shifting within the G20 away from advanced market economies of the West to emerging giants, particularly in Asia.

There were other big moments at the summit, too, including ambitious deals tackling climate change.

India launched a global biofuel alliance with the U.S. and Brazil to boost the use of cleaner fuels. The grouping aims to accelerate international efforts to meet net zero emissions targets by facilitating trade in biofuels derived from plant and animal waste sources.

Listen to the full interview with Moulana Junaid Kharsany on Your World Today.