The Capitals in 2023: The year when New Delhi proved sceptics wrong

In a year when Moscowdodged an unprecedented mutiny bullet, Washington and Beijing wrangled with a consequential geo-economic confrontation over the development of semiconductors, the Israel-Palestine conflict entered its worst phase in decades—New Delhi's rising economic clout coincided with its presidency of the grouping of world's wealthiest economies: the G20.

Besides, during a Senate hearing in Washington, the most relevant warning of our times was issued.

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"If this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong," Sam Altman,the Chief Executive of the world's most successful Artificial Intelligence startup OpenAI said at a Senate hearing in Washington DC.

Samuel Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI | AP

In Kyiv, SouthAfrica's President Cyril Ramaphosa on June 19 presented a 10-point peace plan of the African Peace Mission to end the war in Ukraine. Two days before, President Vladimir Putin told African leaders thatUkraine signed a peace treaty with Russia in the spring of 2022, then threw it into the 'garbage of history'. The war seems to be edging towards Russia by the end of the year, months after a Ukrainian counteroffensive to regain lost territories failed and the attention of the world was diverted towards the Israel-Hamas war.

In between, Bogota succeeded with a rescue operation of four indigenous children who had been missing for more than a month in the Colombian Amazon rainforest. Turkish capital Ankara witnessed the beginning of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's third decade in power. All that while, West Asia witnessed a semblance of stability after the unprecedented restoration of ties between Riyadh and Tehran in March—which was shaken by the last quarter of 2023 when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7.

Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi (Centre), Ali Shamkhani (R), the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Minister of State and national security adviser of Saudi Arabia Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban (L) in Beijing, China March 10, 2023 | AFP

But throughout 2023, New Delhi continued its emergence as a capital of significance.

In July, Tehran entered the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a Beijing-dominated and Moscow-fosteredclub of Central Asian 'stan' nations— at a summit hosted by New Delhi that turned virtual for no specified reason. The SCO summit cameless than four weeks after Modi received Washington's diplomatic niceties during a state visit that was described with 'unprecedented' adjectives.

In the same month, India's PM Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron watched French and Indian soldiers march down the tree-lined Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, while French-made Rafale fighter jets India bought in 2015 took part in a fly-past over the Arc de Triomphe.

French President Emmanuel Macron meets India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris during Bastille Day Celebrations on July 14, 2023 | @EmmanuelMacron/Twitter

New Delhi's pitch for 'reformed multilateralism' over concerns such as an unreformed UN Security Council, remained a recurring theme in the geopolitical discourse.

In an address ahead of the BRICS summit in August, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa said in Johannesburg: "The United Nations Security Council must be transformed into a more inclusive, more effective body that is able to ensure peace and security."

On September 3rd, just a week before hosting the New Delhi G20 leaders summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhireiterated India's position on reformed multilateralism and the question of Security Council reforms.

"A mid-20th century approach cannot serve the world in the 21st century," Modi said.

A week later, the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration called for the need for "a more inclusive and reinvigorated multilateralism and reform aimed at implementing the 2030 agenda".

Besides, the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin andChinese leader Xi Jinpingfrom 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. But New Delhi proved the sceptics wrong, emerging as a capital of significance in accordance with its status as the world's fifth-largest economy.