Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took over the presidency of the G-20 with a call to prevent geopolitical issues from hijacking the bloc’s agenda. He stressed his opposition to discussing the conflict in Ukraine and assured that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be able to attend the next summit of this mechanism in November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro without being imprisoned, despite the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against him for war crimes.
“We cannot allow geopolitical issues to hijack the G-20 discussion agenda. We are not interested in a divided G-20. We need peace and cooperation instead of conflict,” said Lula at the end of the summit. The priorities of Brazil’s G-20 agenda are three, said the president: the fight against inequality and hunger, the fight against climate change and the reform of international government institutions.
The G-20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, Great Britain, the United States and the USA European Union.
On the sidelines of the summit, the Brazilian President met with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and reiterated to her that European environmental demands for a free trade agreement with the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) were unacceptable.
Lula announced the three priorities of the Brazilian agenda: the fight against inequality and hunger, the fight against climate change and the reform of international government institutions. He maintained his call for more countries to join the UN Security Council and for developing countries to have a greater say in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The theme that dominated Lula’s agenda at the India summit was a call for action on climate change, warning that the world was facing an “unprecedented climate emergency.”
But New Delhi’s final statement was very undemanding: it covered the issue in such a fundamental way that it was of concern to both countries favoring fossil fuel phase-outs and major oil and coal producers such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Russia was acceptable.
And on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India, US President Joe Biden announced that he had a meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, with whom he spoke about “stability” amid tensions between the world’s two major economies.
“I don’t want to contain China, I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is getting stronger. We all know what this is about,” said Biden, who traveled to Vietnam after the summit. There he signed an agreement with the highest local authority, Nguyen Phu Trong, elevating relations between the two countries to a “strategic partnership.” “This new status will be a force for prosperity and security in the region, one of the most important regions in the world,” Biden announced in Hanoi.
Lula raised the issue a day after the Group of 20 major economies released a final statement in which he avoided criticizing Russia for invading Ukraine, reflecting the bloc’s lack of consensus on the issue. The United States and some European countries wanted a condemnation of the Russian Federation, but there was no consensus even on Russia’s presence at the summit.
Putin did not attend the meeting in New Delhi, where he was represented by his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Meanwhile, the G-20 statement condemned the use of force to achieve territorial gains but avoided directly criticizing Russia for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In a television interview, Lula reiterated that the war in Ukraine should not be part of the G-20-20 agenda, which must focus on social and economic issues.
The Russian Foreign Minister emphasized: “We managed to prevent the West’s attempt to ‘Ukrainize’ the summit’s agenda.” Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky attended the summit in Bali last year via video conference and then stole the show with one personal appearance at the meeting of the heads of state and government of the rich G-7 democracies – all members of the G-20 – in Hiroshima this year.
Indian President Modi made it clear that he would not invite Zelensky to attend this year’s meeting, even though many issues such as energy and food security cannot be separated from the war in Ukraine.
India also unveiled an ambitious plan, along with the United States, the European Union and other countries, to build a rail and shipping corridor connecting India with the Middle East and Europe to strengthen economic growth and political cooperation.
The leaders posed for photographs at the Raj Ghat memorial in New Delhi. Modi presented the leaders with scarves made of khadi, a hand-woven fabric promoted by Gandhi during India’s independence movement against British control. Some world leaders, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who hosted the summit last year, walked barefoot to the monument in a traditional sign of respect.
Others, like United States President Joe Biden, used sneakers usually offered to visitors to walk on wet ground puddled by heavy rain.
Likewise, India has launched a global biofuel alliance with 19 countries, including the United States and Brazil, which is made from agricultural products or organic waste and has gained popularity in recent decades as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
Lula recalled that a meeting of BRICS leaders will be held in Russia before the G20 summit in Rio next year. This forum brings together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and its last meeting included Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Iran. “Everyone is going to the BRICS summit, so I hope they come to the G20 summit in Brazil. In Brazil they will feel an atmosphere of peace,” he said.
Source: https://estrategia.la/2023/09/11/lula-en-el-g-20-que-la-geopolitica-no-secuestre-la-agenda-de-cooperacion/
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