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G20 leaders failed to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a joint statement after China and Russia refused to blame Moscow for the conflict.
New Delhi Summit Declaration Only the “Ukrainian war” was mentioned, a term Kyiv’s supporters including the United States and NATO allies had previously rejected as implying that both sides were equally complicit.
The statement, hammered out by diplomats at the start of the summit after weeks of negotiations and hours of heated debate, is a blow to Western countries that have spent the past year trying to persuade developing countries to denounce Moscow. and support Ukraine.
The G20 statement issued in Indonesia last November mentioned “the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.” Western diplomats said China’s refusal to repeat that statement was crucial in pushing host India to come up with compromising language.
Talking about the war, Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar said: “In fact, today this is a very polarizing issue, and there are many views on it…”. . In all fairness, documenting the reality in the conference room was the right thing to do, and it was the reality we wanted to capture. “
The declaration also contained a pledge from the leaders of the world’s largest economies to “pursue and encourage efforts to triple global renewable energy capacity” but did not set a deadline for phasing out fossil fuels. China and Saudi Arabia took the lead in blocking such remarks at the G20 meeting in July.
The adoption of the declaration would be a major foreign policy victory for India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after speculation that the divide over Ukraine was too great to bridge. Modi will face voters in a poll where he will seek re-election for a third term in early 2024.
“We highlight the human suffering and negative impact that the war in Ukraine will have on global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation and growth,” the joint statement said. “There are different views and assessments of the situation.”
The declaration called for “a just and lasting peace in Ukraine” but did not explicitly link this demand to the importance of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, as has been pushed by Western countries. It also does not include the statement in the 2022 version that states “a majority of members strongly condemn the war.”
Still, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the statement had “a series of important passages” about the war in Ukraine.
“From our perspective, it well upholds the principle that states cannot use force to acquire territory. . . . The use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable and a just peace must be based on the principles of the United Nations Charter,” he added.
Overall, Sullivan said, the statement was “a vote of confidence in the G20’s ability to come together to address a range of pressing issues and address difficult issues that actually divide some members deeply from others.”
India regards itself as the leader of the so-called “developing countries in the southern hemisphere” and has also successfully pushed the G20 to absorb the African Union as a full member.
“We are particularly pleased that the African Union became a member of the G20 during India’s rotating presidency,” Jaishankar told reporters.
The joint statement also mentioned digital public infrastructure, which India has been promoting during his presidency after successfully bringing more than 1 billion people online.
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