Everything is ready in New Delhi for the G-20 summit at the weekend, with the unknown whether it will be held in India or Bharat, the Sanskrit name of the country that President Droupadi Murmu has used in her invitation to the elders of this world.
However, the real host, with his eyes on next year's elections, is Narendra Modi. Despite the fact that some foreign heads of government have already landed in New Delhi, the Indian Prime Minister is on a lightning visit to Indonesia on Thursday, where the Asean regional summit is being held.
Covering the absence in the capital are thousands of posters with his image, elevated to the status of Vishwaguru or universal visionary. Even the symbol of the summit, a lotus flower, matches 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 the Prime Minister, Li Qiang, to fend for himself.
For decades, international dating in New Delhi was synonymous with Third Worldism and non-alignment. On the other hand, at the weekend, there will be a very good meeting towards the West because of the aforementioned mistakes.
However, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar says the country aspires to "give voice to the Global South" and will propose that the African Union (AU) become a member of the G-20, as it already is the European Union (EU). The surprise, which denotes the very different weight of India and China on the continent, is that the AU could decline the offer, fifteen days after the Brics summit in Johannesburg, to which 35 of its members went.
The appointment will not lack the characteristic contrasts of India. On the one hand, gold-plated silver tableware for the VIP diners, including five hundred Indian businessmen. On the other hand, 93 hectares of shacks were demolished in four months because of the proximity to the headquarters of the summit.
New Delhi's status as the unofficial capital of the loudest Tibetan exile could have weighed on Xi Jinping's decision. Be that as it may, there is no commentator in India who does not see, with apprehension, a clear political message. The border dispute between the two Asian giants remains open and China's new official map still includes what Beijing calls South Tibet and which New Delhi controls under the name Arunachal Pradesh.
However, for the former Indian ambassador to China, Ashok Kantha, the perception "that India is conspiring against China" weighs even more heavily. An allusion to the Quad defense forum, which brings it closer to the USA, Japan and Australia.
But the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China takes iron to the matter: "Our relationship with India is stable". Which would indicate that, rather than belittling India, Xi Jinping would aim to devalue the G-20, where it does not command compared to the Brics, where it is decisive.
In the wake of the pandemic, India – like Turkey – hoped to benefit from a shift of Western factories from China to third countries. The aforementioned hopes of diversification have been mostly frustrated. Investments by a few mobile phone giants in India have been matched by hundreds of millions of dollars in grants, with the Indian market in the spotlight.
Of course, the Indian space agency has just given Modi – an orphan of great achievements – quite a milestone: the launch of an Indian spacecraft, now in hibernation, near the South Pole of our satellite. Until now, Modi's Hindu chauvinist party had excelled more by changing place names than by changing reality.
It should be added that this year India would have surpassed China in population, even if the Chinese economy is five times larger. In addition, New Delhi will open parliament this month. However, Indian parliamentarianism or its informative plurality is at a low ebb. How is the rupee doing against the dollar.
On the agenda of the meeting will be cryptocurrencies or global warming, but where success or failure will be decided is in the final statement, which Russia could veto depending on the tone and content related to the war in Ukraine. The Indians, masters of improvisation and context, promise to step on the coals without burning themselves.
