At the start of the last day of the summit, the heads of state and government of the G20 paid tribute to the Indian freedom fighter Gandhi. Surprisingly, they had already agreed on a final declaration yesterday.
In the morning, the delegates to the G20 summit in New Delhi visited the memorial to the murdered Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi in rainy weather. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi placed scarves on each visitor individually – a welcoming ritual in India, with the logo of the Indian G20 presidency on them. Wreaths were then laid at a ceremony.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other heads of state traditionally went barefoot when visiting the memorial. US President Biden and others use slippers.
India sees itself as a bridge builder
The heads of state and government then withdrew to the third and final working session. Topics include: Reforms of development banks and international financial organizations. India placed particular emphasis on making its G20 presidency inclusive. The country presents itself as a bridge builder between rich industrial nations and the countries of the global south. On Saturday, India celebrated the decision to admit the African Union into the G20 group. Yesterday evening, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke of a successful meeting:
Successful because many things have come about that many people would not have thought possible beforehand. First of all, progress: the African Union has now become another member of the G20.
Final declaration – only one minimal compromise
Yesterday too, a final declaration was presented – surprisingly for many observers – which was supported by all states. There was a hard fight over the formulation of the war of aggression in Ukraine. The aggressor Russia and its ally China in particular resisted clearly condemning the invasion – but so did some countries in the global south.
And so the delegates agreed on a minimal compromise, which everyone agreed to in the end: the Russian war of aggression is no longer even mentioned, as was the case at the last G20 summit. Instead, reference is only made to relevant United Nations resolutions. And generally called for not to use violence and to respect the integrity of all sovereign states.
Nevertheless, the Chancellor spoke of “clear words” that had been found. These made it clear that “the territorial integrity of a state like Ukraine cannot simply be called into question by using force from its neighbor.” In addition, words were once again defined that addressed the question that it was not possible to further advance military escalation.
Ukraine, which was not invited to the meeting in India, sharply criticized the decision: The G20 group has nothing to be proud of, said a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Kiev. The summit in New Delhi ends in the early afternoon.