<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The G20 joint declaration in Delhi is being described as a significant diplomatic win for India.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The agreement of a joint statement looked almost impossible a few days ago, given how sharply divided the group was over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the end, we had a declaration that garnered unanimous support from all G20 member nations, without a single dissenting note.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine itself, which was not represented at the summit, was unhappy - though key players, including the US, the UK, Russia and China, praised the outcome.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, how did India manage to bring together nations with starkly divergent views on Ukraine?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A close reading of the declaration and some geopolitical developments weeks before the summit offer some clues.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The five-nation Brics group - which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - decided to include six new members during its annual summit in August.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The new members - Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE - have close ties with China.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The expansion may not have played a direct role in the outcome of the G20 summit but it's no secret that the West has been wary of China's growing clout, particularly in the developing world, in the past few years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It was not a direct factor but the West, especially the US, is conscious that China is effectively trying to create an alternative international order that is anti-Western," says Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, South Asia practice head of Eurasia Group.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What is also not a secret is that the West sees India as a counterweight to China and it would have not wanted Delhi's presidency to end without a declaration."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, there was more than one reason for the West to help India forge a consensus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The main sticking point was the war in Ukraine. The G20's declaration in Bali last year had called out "aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine" while noting objections from some members to this assessment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It looked impossible that the West would agree to language that was weaker than that used in Bali, and Russia also indicated it would not agree to a statement that blamed it for the war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A breakthrough was needed and India was well placed to broker one as it has good relations both with Moscow and the West.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the end, the declaration used language that satisfied Russia but also gave enough to Western countries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It was clear that the West did want India to have a diplomatic win. There was always a compromise involved. But the US and the West would not have signed onto a joint declaration if there were issues in the language on which they could not come to an agreement," says Angela Mancini, partner and head of Asia-Pacific markets at consultancy firm Control Risks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Delhi declaration refrained from blaming Russia for the war, a stance viewed by analysts as more lenient than the one taken in Bali. However, it did address the "human suffering and adverse repercussions of the conflict in Ukraine on global food and energy security".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the end, leaders from the UK, the US and France appeared to be in agreement with Russia that the declaration was a good outcome of the summit. The two sides, however, interpreted the wordings differently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">UK PM Rishi Sunak said the declaration had "strong language, highlighting the impact of the war on food prices and food security". Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the Delhi summit a milestone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the unexpected agreement has upset Ukraine as it said the G20 had nothing to be proud of.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The debt crisis facing many developing countries was also a major concern ahead of the summit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Developing nations have consistently argued that affluent countries must increase their support to help their economies. These were battered by the pandemic, and the war has exacerbated their challenges. The World Bank said in December that the world's poorest countries owed $62bn in annual debt service to creditors and two-thirds of this was owed to China.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China's lending practices have been often described as predatory by Western officials - an allegation Beijing rejects.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China, firmly aligned with Russia, could have potentially vetoed the declaration but it did not. The paragraph about the debt crisis makes no direct or indirect mention of China.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"On debt relief, we did not see any forward movement. In many ways, any criticism of lending practices would have been interpreted as an anti-China move," Mr Pal Chaudhari adds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The declaration acknowledged the crisis and called upon G20 nations to step up the implementation of the common framework (CF) agreed in 2020 to help vulnerable nations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, the group agreed on tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 but it didn't set any major goals on emission cuts, despite the G20 nations accounting for nearly 80% of greenhouse gases.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Crucially, the declaration did not mention any targets on reducing the use of crude oil, and instead focused on phasing out the use of coal. This would have satisfied crude producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia. Even India and China have been uncomfortable with the West setting emission cut targets that they see as "unrealistic". BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>