New Delhi

The absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping from New Delhi's G20 summit was widely described as a sign of impending floundering of India's stewardship of one of the world's most important geo-economic forums. 

Advertisment

But New Delhi began the summit with a bang, quite literally.

Right at the start of the inaugural session of the summit, host India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hammered the gavel and embraced African Union's chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat into the fold of G20, revamping the forum of the world's wealthiest economies with the idea of reformed and inclusive multilateralism that successive governments in New Delhi and their representatives at UN headquarters in New York have long advocated. 

African Union's inclusion in G20 was hailed by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov as a mark of India's consistent efforts to be a voice of the reason for Global South, adding that the group of developing economies led by New Delhi helped avoid war in Ukraine overshadowing G20 agenda.

Advertisment

Following the inclusion of the 55-member bloc into the G20, the proceeding hours bore witness to a global consensus that was achieved as the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration, a landmark conclusion of an exhaustive G20 presidency led by India, particularly amid divergent views on Ukraine conflict.

Furthermore, the first day of the summit also saw the launch of the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor — which the US President Joe Biden hailed as 'a real big deal' —  a move experts told WION was aimed at giving countries involved more agency in terms of drifts aligning with their own interests in the wake of Chinese efforts to establish an ambitious the Belt and Road Initiative.

In the efforts towards combating Climate Change, the unanimously adopted New Delhi declaration called for the phasing out and rationalisation of fossil fuel subsidies and commits to reducing "unabated coal power" while boosting clean energy generation.

Advertisment

Besides, the Global Biofuels Alliance was launched with India, Brazil and the United States as its founding members, with sixteen other countries and twelve international organisations agreeing to join the group in New Delhi.

The alliance aims to expedite the global uptake of biofuels by facilitating technology advancements, intensifying the utilisation of sustainable biofuels, and shaping robust standard setting and certification through the participation of a wide spectrum of stakeholders.

By the end of the summit, Modi concluded with a proposal to hold a virtual G20 session to take stock of the progress on matters agreed upon in the Delhi declaration. 

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.