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As the curtains fell on the G20 Summit, the consensus arrived in the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration set the stage for the diplomatic and political conversation on the Russia-Ukraine conflict with a hope — across the spectrum — that the text is expected to set the tone for any negotiations between the two warring sides: the West-led G7 grouping that is backing Ukraine, and Russia, which has Beijing’s support in the form of a no-limits friendship.
The consensus text “enables us to look ahead to what should be the solution for a just and lasting peace at the end of the war in Ukraine.
The Indian Express spoke to officials from several member states to find that behind the hectic negotiations that went into the joint communique, lay hard work to build common ground and articulate a formulation acceptable to all.
What framed the challenge was the fact that the two paras in the Bali declaration lay shattered within a month of the November 2022 G20 Summit, the sense being that these, by echoing the UN resolutions — where India had abstained — deploring Russian aggression, were “divisive” and “divergent.”
Bali had recorded the G7 position of condemnation of the war in Ukraine and the Russian position on unilateral sanctions. It had the West’s formulation on the war’s impact on the global economy but also factored in the Russian-Chinese stance that G20 is an economic forum that does not discuss security issues.
Strong concerns of anti-India acts of separatists in Canada: Modi to Trudeau (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
IN A sharply-worded statement at a time when all bilateral meetings with visiting leaders of G20 countries have been positive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday conveyed to his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, New Delhi’s “strong concerns” about “continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements” in Canada.
Meanwhile, Trudeau’s departure was delayed as his aircraft faced “technical issues”. Sources said the Canadian High Commission has informed the Indian authorities that the new departure schedule will be conveyed after it is finalised.
In a readout of the meeting between Modi and Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said: “He (Modi) conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada.
They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship.”
The nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well. It is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.
G20 in New Delhi
PM discusses trade, energy climate with leaders from Europe Africa (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders, including Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The PM’s discussions with Michel and von der Leyen focused on a range of aspects of the India–EU Strategic Partnership, including the next India-EU Summit, the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, climate change and LiFE and digital technology.
The leaders also discussed the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that was launched on Saturday, adding that both sides felt the need to expeditiously implement the project and that PM Modi also highlighted the possibility of solar projects under the corridor.
Modi and Scholz reviewed the progress of their bilateral Strategic Partnership and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in various areas like defence, green and sustainable development, and critical minerals. Modi invited Scholz to India next year for the next round of Intergovernmental Commission.
The PM also met Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol and noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
They reviewed progress on various areas of bilateral Special Strategic Partnership, including trade and investment, defence production, semiconductors and EV battery technology.
In Modi – Lula meet : Security council reform climate change and cooperation in defence (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva agreed to continue working towards reform in the UN Security Council (UNSC) under the framework of the G4 and L.69 groupings as well as by holding regular bilateral coordination meetings.
The G4 nations — Brazil, Germany, India and Japan — support each others’ bid for permanent UNSC membership. The L.69, a group of developing countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific (Small Island Developing States), also supports UNSC reform.
Modi and Lula expressed disappointment over the Intergovernmental Negotiations on UN Security Council reform which have not produced tangible progress.
They agreed that the time has come to move towards a result-oriented process that aims to achieve concrete outcomes in a fixed time-frame, a joint statement released by the two countries stated.
The leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. President Lula congratulated Modi for India’s successful G20 presidency and pledged to collaborate closely with India during Brazil’s G20 tenure, beginning December 2023.
Seat in UNSC should be held by rotation: Erdogan backs India bid (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Stating that the world is larger than the five countries of US, UK, France, China and Russia that are the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed India for a permanent membership.
Speaking after the G20 Leaders’ Summit, he also termed India as its “greatest trade partner in South Asia” and said there is great potential for both the countries in the field of economy.
A country like India being there on the UN Security Council, we would be proud. But as you know, the world is bigger than, larger than five,” Erdoğan said. “When we say the world is larger than five, what we mean is that it’s not only about the US, UK, France, China and Russia…we should only have permanent members and it should work on a rotational system, because right now, you have all these members, 195 countries, who are all members of the UN.
So we should have a rotational mechanism where potentially each and every member, every one of those 195 countries can potentially become a member. That’s what we propose so they should be able to enjoy that.”
This came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Erdoğan on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. “Discussions took place on bilateral cooperation potential in areas like trade and investment,
Raised role of civil society, free press & human rights with Modi: Biden in Hanoi (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Soon after flying to Vietnam from New Delhi, US President Joe Biden on Sunday said that he held “substantial discussions” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ways to strengthen the India-US partnership and thanked him for his leadership and hosting the G20 Summit. He also said that he raised “the importance of respecting human rights with PM Modi”.
As I always do, I raised the importance of respecting human rights and the vital role the civil society and a free press have in building a strong and prosperous country with Modi,” Biden told reporters in Hanoi, adding that they have got “a lot of important work done”.
Biden, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday, on his first visit to India as US President, held wide-ranging discussions with Prime Minister Modi during his visit.
The two leaders committed to “deepen and diversify” the bilateral defence partnership, also welcoming forward movement in India’s procurement of 31 drones and joint development of jet engines.
I want to once again thank Prime Minister Modi for his leadership and his hospitality and hosting the G20. He and I have had substantial discussions about how we’re going to continue to strengthen the partnership between India and the US building on the Prime Minister’s visit to the White House last June.
Editorial
An unforgettable Presidency (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Has the spectacle of the G20 announced the arrival of India as an “impresario” of the international system, much like the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics heralded the emergence of China? “Too early to tell!”, would probably be the niggardly response of the Chinese leadership — most to gain from continuing uncertainty about India’s presence.
In suggesting as much, Beijing would approvingly echo popular apocryphal stories about how an ageing Chinese Premier responded, in similar faux Confucian fashion, to the impact of the French Revolution, nearly 200 years later, while on a visit to Paris.
Beyond an obvious need to be patient and take a long-term view, but not a Chinese-chequered one, the reality is that any semi-objective assessment of India’s presidency, the summit and the events over the last year, would be a no-brainer: the benefits overwhelm the downside.
In sum, the Presidency of the G20 has given New Delhi the weight and influence that India has rarely experienced in its contemporary history.
Contrarians can often miss the tree for the forest: For example, Oman’s delegation, perhaps, should have been greeted with a shehnai rather than the Garba or we didn’t have enough haute culture, but these awkward moments pale into insignificance if you move from the granular detail to a view with greater perspective.
For India seems to have demonstrated both wisdom and cleverness (bordering on the crafty), and fortunately, in increasing its gravitas, it has still not lost its soul.
Ideas Page
Bringing Africa in (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The G20 summit attracted attention as it started with a clear consensus to invite the African Union (AU) as its member. The action-oriented ambience saw President Azali Assoumani of Comoros, the chairperson of the AU, take his seat among the G20 members. This was a unique reordering of the global high table.
By insulating the G20 as best as possible from the vagaries of big-power rivalry, India guided the agenda to the Global South and its priorities. The inclusion of the AU, at par with the European Union, was unique.
Of the AU’s 55 members, 54 are in the United Nations. Only one African country, South Africa, has been an original member of the G20.
No presidency ever risked amending the membership for fear of competing rivalries. It has been India’s case that not only must the G20 reflect the priorities of the Global South, but must include those who are underrepresented, particularly from Africa. The AU has double the number of countries than the EU.
The AU has been invited to G20 meetings and some presidencies have held African outreach events in a manner of telling them what is good for them. It is India that has actually taken the initiative of talking with them rather than at them.
Express Network
Fake liver, cancer drugs in market, regulator warns doctors, patients (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The country’s apex drug regulator, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), has asked state regulators, doctors and patients to remain vigilant about two medicines — liver drug Defitalio and cancer drug Adcetris — after the World Health Organization raised alert against falsified versions of them circulating in four countries, including India.
Defitalio is used for treatment of a serious condition where vessels in the liver are blocked, and Adcetris is used for the treatment of a type of blood cancer.
“Instruct your officers to keep strict vigil on the movement, sale and distribution of said products in the market,” the two alerts sent by CDSCO read, adding that samples of the medicines should be tested.
The alerts urge healthcare professionals to prescribe the two medicines with caution and educate the patients about reporting any adverse events. It also asks people to purchase these medicines only from authorised stores.
The falsified versions of the liver medicine Defitalio were detected in India and Turkey. “This falsified product… was supplied outside of regulated and authorised channels,” as per the alert.
World
Iran US on verge of prisoner swap under Qatar mediated deal (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
When $6 billion of unfrozen Iranian funds are wired to banks in Qatar as early as next week, it will trigger a carefully choreographed sequence that will see as many as five detained U.S. dual nationals leave Iran and a similar number of Iranian prisoners held in the U.S. fly home.
As a first step, Iran on Aug. 10 released four U.S. citizens from Tehran’s Evin prison into house arrest, where they joined a fifth, who was already under house arrest.
Later that day U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the move the first step of a process that would lead to their return home.
They include businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, as well as environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who also holds British nationality, the U.S. administration has said.
The Tahbaz and Shargi families did not respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for the Namazi family declined to comment.
Eye on China, US and Vietnam sign historic partnership after Biden lands (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
US President Joe Biden secured deals with Vietnam on semiconductors and minerals as the strategic Southeast Asian nation lifted Washington to Hanoi's highest diplomatic status alongside China and Russia.
The US has been pushing for the upgrade for months as it sees the manufacturing dynamo as a key country in its strategy to secure global supply chains from China-related risks.
A half-century after a lengthy and brutal Cold War-era conflict, Biden arrived in Hanoi to a ceremony organised by the ruling Communist Party that included school children waving American flags and honour guards carrying bayoneted rifles.
The partnership with Vietnam is part of the Biden administration's push "to demonstrate to our our Indo-Pacific partners and to the world, the United States is a Pacific nation and we're not going anywhere.
Vietnam is navigating frosty relations between Washington and Beijing as the tech and textile exporter seeks its own foothold in the international competition to be a low-cost manufacturing hub.
Top Chinese officials, possibly including President Xi Jinping, are expected to visit Vietnam in the coming days or weeks, officials and diplomats said, as Hanoi seeks to maintain good relations with all super powers.
Explained
G20 statement on health: India’s 3 priorities, digital push (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
All three health priorities of India’s G20 presidency found a mention in the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration released.
The declaration spoke of strengthening primary healthcare, health workforce, and essential health services to better-than-pre-pandemic levels, ideally within the next two to three years. In addition to focusing on epidemics such as tuberculosis and AIDS, the G20 recognised the importance of research on long COVID.
The declaration also stressed the importance of one health approach — where diseases in animals, plants, and humans are tracked by the same mechanism — with focus on tackling antimicrobial resistance.
The G20 health track that concluded last month was one of the most successful under India’s presidency: not only did India manage to build consensus on all three of its priority areas, it also managed to launch a proposed repository of scalable digital health platforms.
The three priorities kept in mind the economic and social disruption caused by Covid-19, and what could be done to prevent such losses in the future.
What is PGII the initiative behind India-ME-Europe Economic corridor (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Governments of India, the US, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, the UAE, France, Germany and Italy to establish the India – Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
The IMEC is being envisioned as a network of transport corridors, including railway lines and sea lanes that is expected to aid economic growth through integration between Asia, the Arabian Gulf, and Europe.
While its details are yet to come out, the project is a part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII) — a West-led initiative for funding infrastructure projects across the world, seen as a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Through the PGII, we can contribute towards reducing the infrastructure gaps in the Global South countries,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
The infrastructure plan was first announced in June 2021 during the G7 (or Group of Seven) summit in the UK. The G7 countries include the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the European Union (EU). US President Joe Biden had called it the Build Back Better World (B3W) framework. However, it did not register much progress.
Economy
Scaling down in nuclear power and space: Why small is now the new big (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Across two key strategic sectors – nuclear generation and space technology – where participation from entities outside of the government has been limited so far, an upscaling of private sector interest is being attempted by, ironically, a scaling down of size.
In the civil nuclear sector, the Indian government is pushing Small Modular Reactors or SMR as a technology of promise that can help in industrial decarbonisation, including a determined hard sell of the country’s ability to take a leadership role in the dissemination of this technology.
Likewise, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) resolve to transfer its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) to the private sector, after having conducted two development flights of the rocket, aims clearly at enabling private players to offer on-demand services to put satellites weighing up to 500 kg into a low-earth orbit as the government seeks more investment in the booming space market.
India is aiming to increase its share of the global satellite launch market fivefold over the next decade and the SSLV is seen as the government-led launchpad for fostering private innovation.