G20 summit takes place in India without key participants
The G20 summit is taking place in New Delhi this weekend. Even before the event began, the meeting of world leaders attracted the attention of international media, which were quite intrigued by the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Some Western analysts were quick to seize on the absence of Putin and Xi Jinping from the G20 summit as a “fantastic opportunity.” For example, CNN correspondent David A. Andelman, in his commentary on the American channel’s website, notes that the non-participation of the leaders of Russia and China in the G20 summit could be an opportunity for world leaders to bridge many of the opening chasms, as was the case at G20 conferences in the past.
“But now the G20 meeting in New Delhi this coming weekend looks more likely to widen the gap between the blocs—east and west, north and south—than at any point since the Cold War,” Andelman predicts, adding a caveat. “Unless this opportunity is well and cleverly played out.”
Given that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not participating in the summit and sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his place, and Chinese President Xi Jinping — the Prime Minister Li Qiang, this could be an opportunity for greater unity on key issues for those world leaders attending, the CNN analyst hoped.
Mao Ning, spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, avoided answering a reporter's question about the reason for Xi Jinping's absence from the G20 summit. “The G20 is a major forum for international economic cooperation, and China has always attached great importance to related activities and actively participated in them,” Mao said.
Xi Jinping's absence from the G20 summit also means he will not have a formal bilateral meeting with Modi, while the world's two most populous nuclear powers remain at loggerheads over a disputed border. Xi Jinping and Modi agreed to “step up efforts” to de-escalate border tensions last month on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in South Africa, in what was seen as a step towards mending their strained relationship.
There was considerable expectation in some quarters that that Joe Biden and Xi Jinping can continue the dialogue they began on the Indonesian island of Bali at the last G20 summit in November.
Over the past three months, Washington has made significant efforts to mend relations with Beijing that appeared to be in a downward spiral since a Chinese surveillance balloon flew over America earlier this year.
Over the past three months, the US has staged a series of visits to Beijing by senior administration officials — three secretaries and the top special envoy for climate change — in an attempt to restore order. But only Secretary of State Antony Blinken received an audience (albeit brief) with Xi Jinping, and then he was pushed aside, CNN notes.
The summit in New Delhi will be the first G20 meeting that Xi Jinping misses his decade as President of China. And here David Andelman sees several significant points. First, China has not reciprocated with any significant visit to Washington since the spring. Blinken invited his Chinese counterpart to the United States, but has still not received a response. On the other hand, Xi Jinping himself does not like to be treated with disdain.
Around the same time that news leaked the other day that Xi Jinping would not be attending the G20, officials close to Biden told NBC that the US president had no plans to formally meet with Xi Jinping at the summit anyway.< /p>
Secondly, the question arises of how firmly Xi Jinping links his fate with Putin, the CNN analyst notes, recalling that the Russian president previously missed a face-to-face meeting of BRICS leaders in Johannesburg, since South Africa (unlike) India is bound by obligations with International Criminal Court. But Xi Jinping was present at this meeting. His decision to withdraw from the G20 in New Delhi was softened in part by the deep one-on-one conversation that took place between the Chinese leader and Indian Prime Minister Modi at the BRICS summit.
However, there remain so many disagreements between India and China that it would hardly be possible to dispel all this in one session, CNN notes, recalling that China recently published a map of the country, which depicted the extreme north of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, whose territory is also claimed by Beijing. India made a “strong protest”. China has rejected these claims.
“Is Xi Jinping skipping the G20 to avoid a face-to-face conversation with Biden?” asks a CNN analyst. The US President said last Sunday: “I'm disappointed… but I'm going to meet with him,” without specifying when that would happen. There is another possibility for a one-on-one meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco in November, although there is no guarantee that Xi Jinping will appear at that event either.
But the G20 is about much more than just China-US relations, CNN notes. India, as host of this year's G20 summit, would like the meeting to focus on the environment and sustainable development, as well as leveling the playing field between rich and poor countries.
Xi Jinping may be thinking that enthusiastic advocacy of expanding BRICS membership — by adding Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — could weaken many of the G20's priorities, since seven of the 11 enlarged BRICS members are now in the G20. At the same time, CNN notes, the G20 accounts for 85% of world economic output, 75% of world trade and two-thirds of the world population, while the BRICS+ countries account for only 36% of world GDP and less than half the population.
In some respects, it would be rather short-sighted for Xi Jinping to skip this session — just at a time when China and its economy desperately need to open up more markets and connections with the world, a CNN analyst said. China's exports fell 14.5% year-on-year in July, the biggest drop since the initial outbreak of Covid-19.