Joint declaration at G20 Summit breaks free from Western agenda

The joint declaration issued at the end of the G20 Summit in New Delhi on Sunday is apparently a compromise arrived at by the various members given their varying stances on the Ukraine crisis.

As a matter of fact, boosting globalization and promoting common development have been and should remain the G20's main task.

Relevant parties should have drawn lessons from the G20 Summit last year, when geopolitical tensions had hijacked the agenda and divided the group to such an extent that it couldn't stay united to focus on its economic missions. That is why they tried and played down the Ukraine crisis in the joint statement this year.

Although the United States and its allies are particular about how the Russia-Ukraine conflict is presented in the declaration, they know that many countries do not see eye to eye with them on Russia and insisting on pushing their view was unrealistic.

Because of the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic development is still facing uncertainties. The G20 members, including host India and other emerging economies, are facing the challenge of transformation and upgrading. According to data released by the German government, new industrial orders in Germany fell 11.7 percent in July from the month before, the largest decline there since May 2020. Some other major European economies are also facing severe risks of recession.

In this context, it makes sense to prevent geopolitical conflicts from disturbing the bigger goal. That's why the grouping was finally able to issue a declaration in New Delhi.

But the process was not smooth. Before the summit, there was no joint declaration following the meetings of G20 finance ministers and foreign ministers, exposing the differences between relevant parties on the Ukraine crisis.

The US clique blames the crisis on Russia only, and ignores the ugly role of the US. That seriously weakens the G20 as a platform that should primarily be concerned with the economy and development.

The joint declaration shows that the G20's main job is to promote international economic cooperation, rather than become a platform to resolve geopolitical and security issues, even if those have a serious bearing on the world economy.

That should also be the case for other international platforms on economy, finance, technology, environment and climate change. For too long they have been kidnapped by the US and some of its allies for their own narrow ends.

BEIJING NEWS