Everything is ready in New Delhi for the G-20 summit this weekend, with the question of whether it will be held in India or in Bharat, the Sanskrit name for the country used by President Droupadi Murmu in her invitation to the greats of this world.
However, the real host, with his eyes set on next year's elections, is Narendra Modi. Although some foreign heads of government have already landed in New Delhi, the Indian prime minister is on Thursday in the middle of a lightning visit to Indonesia, where the Asean regional summit is being held.
Thousands of posters with his image cover his absence in the capital, elevated to the status of Vishwaguru or universal visionary. Even the symbol of the summit, a lotus flower, coincides with that of his party, according to the opposition.
The irreversible absences that will mark the appointment are that of Russian President Vladimir Putin and, for the first time, that of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, who sends his prime minister, Li Qiang, to train.
For decades, international dating in New Delhi was synonymous with Third Worldism and non-alignment. On the weekend, on the other hand, there will be a conclave very biased towards the West due to the aforementioned faults.
Still, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar says his country aspires to "give a voice to the Global South" and will propose that the African Union (AU) become a member of the G-20, as the Union already is. European (EU). The surprise, which denotes the very different weight of India and China on that continent, is that the AU could decline the offer, fifteen days after the Brics summit in Johannesburg, which was attended by 35 of its members.
The characteristic contrasts of India will not be missing from the appointment. On the one hand, gold-plated silver tableware for VIP diners, including five hundred Indian businessmen. On the other, 93 hectares of shacks demolished in four months, due to their proximity to the summit venue.
In Xi Jinping's decision, the condition of New Delhi as the unofficial capital of the most noisy Tibetan exile could have weighed. Be that as it may, there is not a commentator in India who does not see, with apprehension, a clear political message. The border dispute between the two Asian giants remains open and the new official map of China continues to include what Beijing calls South Tibet and New Delhi controls under the name of Arunachal Pradesh.
However, for the former Indian ambassador to China, Ashok Kantha, the perception that "India is signing up for collusion against China" weighs even more. An allusion to the Quad defense forum, which brings it closer to the US, Japan and Australia.
But the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China says hierro to the subject: “Our relationship with India is stable”. Which would indicate that, more than anyone else to India, Xi Jinping would seek to devalue the G-20, from which he has no respect for the Brics, where he is decisive.
In the wake of the pandemic, India – like Turkey – expected to benefit from a shift of Western factories from China to third countries. These hopes of diversification have been largely frustrated. Investments by a few mobile phone giants in India have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, targeting the Indian market.
Of course, the Indian space agency has just given Modi – an orphan of great achievements – a milestone: the moon landing near the South Pole of our satellite by an Indian ship, now in hibernation. Until now, Modi's Hindu chauvinist party had excelled more by changing place names than by changing reality.
To this we must add that India would have surpassed China this year in population, even though the Chinese economy is five times larger. Also, New Delhi will open parliament this month. However, Indian parliamentarianism or its plurality of information are experiencing low hours. How the rupee lives against the dollar.
On the meeting agenda, there will be cryptocurrencies or global warming. But where success or failure will be decided is in the final declaration, which Russia could veto depending on the tone and content relating to the Ukraine war. The Indians, masters of improvisation and context, promise to step on those embers without getting burned.
