NEW DELHI: The Year 2022 will be remembered most for the outbreak of conflict between Russia
and Ukraine, that started on February 24 and continues unabated. The conflict changed the entire narrative of geo-politics in the world, where the America and Europe were on the side of Ukraine and countries like India not have only chosen to abstain speaking against Russia, but also have benefitted by increasing its import of oil from Russia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been reiterating that this is “no era for war’ and has supported measures to end the conflict through dialogue and discussion. He has urged both Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to resolve the conflict at repeated intervals, which includes making directr phone calls to them.
The war had led to sanctions being imposed on Russia, however, India continued its bilateral trade with them and infact increased their oil imports from the earlier 2 per cent to nearly 30 per cent now. “Fossil fuels are a finite market and we will buy oil from wherever it is available. With the sanctions imposed on Russia, the oil prices in the Middle East (from where we earlier imported) have shot up. Russia’s pricing is viable for us,’’ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said many times over and the world seems to have accepted that stand.
Meanwhile, President Putin has been talking about bringing the conflict in Ukraine to an end by offering “negotiations”. Now, it is to be seen that Zelenskky is willing to walk the extra mile. His return from the US and additional arms and ammunition that he has got along may delay the possibility of a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, 2023 will be marked significantly by India’s G20 Presidency and participation of members from across the world. India is also handling the Presidency of Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) and Summits for both will be held in 2023 which is expected to see participation of many heads of state.
There has been an upswing in the interest the Western world has been showing in the Indo-Pacific. America’s altering equation with China has encouraged many developed nations to focus on this region specially after the Taiwan Straits episode.
Amidst all this, there is the threat of Covid resurgence and its impact on lives again as there is an upswing in cases across China and some other parts of South East Asia. India is naturally most concerned about whether this will impact their over 200 physical meetings that have been scheduled under the G20 Presidency as all arrangements have been made.