East-west divide can hamper finalising common G20 resolve
China’s announcement that President Xi Jinping would not attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi came as a dampener for India. Russian President Vladimir Putin, engaged in a war with Ukraine, had already communicated his inability to attend the Summit. Putin called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inform him about his absence. But Xi showed no such courtesy. The Chinese government said Premier Li Qiang would lead its delegation.
The West has downplayed Xi’s absence by describing it as an indication of the growing tension between India and China over border issues. But there is more to it than just the border dispute. Geopolitical issues are at play as well. After championing the cause of the Global South at the BRICS Summit, Russia and China aim to sharpen the discourse around their narrative that the East is rising and the West is on the decline. India’s growing proximity with the Western bloc to counter China’s geopolitical and economic hegemony may have contributed to Xi’s decision to stay away from G20.
In a calibrated move, China upped the pressure on India and escalated the border dispute by issuing a “standard map” which showed Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin and parts of Uttarakhand as Chinese territories. It has, however, simultaneously termed its relations with India as “generally stable”, signalling that the trade relations between the two countries would remain unaffected by the border row and China’s truncated presence at G20. The India-China bilateral trade has reached a record high of nearly $140 billion, and India’s trade deficit crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time. While continuing to play the geopolitical game, China plans to keep its business relations with India intact.
The deep differences among the G20 countries are likely to make the finalisation of a unanimous G20 declaration difficult. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that he will block the final declaration if it fails to reflect his country’s position on Ukraine and other crucial global issues. Though the G20 is not a platform to discuss security issues, the West will surely insist on denouncing the Russian attack on Ukraine in the common communiqué. India has a challenging task at hand: to come up with a final draft that is acceptable to all.