G2 within G20: Diplomatic tussles mean India’s job as the summit host is getting tougher. US versus China battle is getting sharper
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Notwithstanding Modi’s pitch for consensus at the G20 summit, the Ukraine issue has ensured that consensus has remained elusive in all ministerials held under India’s presidency thus far. With both the US and the China-Russia combine hardening their respective positions, India needs to do a fine diplomatic balancing act to ensure the summit’s success. In fact, divisions between the two camps had also emerged at the Bali G20 summit last year. Back then, India had played a crucial role in drafting the Bali Declaration that noted both condemnation of the Ukraine war by member nations and the different assessment of the conflict by certain countries.
On G20, India’s proposal to include the African Union in the grouping is a good move, but there appears to be problems there, too. If the union is allowed in, it may temper moves to divide the G20 into two camps, and thus keep the focus on the Global South. But there’s no escaping the widening strategic-security gulf between the US and China-Russia. India’s G20 managers have their task cut out.
This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
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