Indonesia had its own interests with this year's G20 presidency agenda. Directed toward global economic recovery post-COVID, it wanted to represent the voice of developing countries while showcasing Indonesia's structural reform to attract more foreign investment.
Instead, great power rivalry has dominated.
Indonesia has called for peace but still invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit. But it has acquiesed to China's request not to put the Ukraine crisis on the G20 agenda this year and echoed China's rationale that the G20 is an economic platform, even though the Ukraine crisis is impacting the economy globally. On the other hand, it accommodated US President Joe Biden's request to invite Ukraine President Volodimir Zelenskyy as a summit guest.
