The story so far: The G-20, comprising 19 countries and the European Union, that was founded in 1999, is finally in Delhi, with all eyes on the New Delhi declaration issued at the end of the summit. While India took presidency of the G-20 with what seemed to be insurmountable odds, a global economic crisis spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict in its second year with more entrenched positions between the Western alliance and the Russia-China combine, as well as growing geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific, its biggest challenge has been ensuring a moment of truce that would allow for a joint communique to be agreed upon at the summit.
What are the takeaways from the summit?
The big takeaway is the New Delhi Declaration that forged a consensus between the G-20 nations, bitterly divided between the G7-EU and Russia-China, on the issue of Ukraine. The final language is a shift from the ‘Bali Paragraphs’, with language critical of Russia erased, on a firm proposal from G-20 hosts of past and future years — Indonesia, India, Brazil and South Africa. The final 83-paragraph declaration, with eight paragraphs on “geopolitical issues”, on which consensus was reached included language on everything from climate action, financing, and fossil fuel phaseout, to debt restructuring, the biofuel alliance, health, digital infrastructure, regulating crypto currency and other issues.
