Roving Periscope: Xi, Putin missing, Biden Covid-careful, PM Modi to hold G-20 fort
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China giving it a miss, and their US counterpart Joe Biden wearing a mask and observing COVID-19 protocols, host India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi would hold the fort, and, maybe do some tight-rope walking, during the much-awaited two-day G-20 Summit beginning here on September 9.
Fearing arrest on the Ukraine human rights issue, President Putin is keeping away from the 18th Summit., His Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on September 1 that Russia would block the final declaration of the Summit “unless it reflects Moscow’s position on Ukraine and other crises.” This has left the G-20 participants to issue a non-binding or partial communique.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is also missing the Summit—apparently because, as he did at the BRICS Summit recently, he is uncomfortable answering probing questions about China’s collapsing economy. But that has not prevented Beijing from trying to throw a spanner in the Summit: China, having no locus standi on how a host country organizes an event, objected to the use of the Sanskrit phrase Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World Is One Family) in the G-20 logo, just to flex its muscles!
US President Joe Biden, who will stay the longest in New Delhi (September 8 to 11), has his own set of issues to deal with. With his wife and First Lady Jill Biden, 72, testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday, and he having tested negative twice for the coronavirus, he will have to strictly follow disease control guidelines during his India visit and later his trip to Vietnam.
President Biden, 80, will follow the COVID-19 guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the White House said on Tuesday, adding his travel plans for India and Vietnam later this week remain unchanged. He is taking all the necessary precautions and following standard procedures, the media reported on Wednesday.
“Of course, all travelers, including the President, will test before traveling to India. He’s going to be very cautious and he’s going to wear a mask, as the CDC guidelines suggest or request,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.
President Biden will travel to India on September 7 to participate in the G-20 Summit and will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8 on the sidelines of the historic event, the White House announced on Friday last week.
Jean-Pierre said all senior staffers test for COVID-19 anytime if they are around the President.
This year, India, the current president of G-20, is hosting the Annual Summit of the influential grouping in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. PM Modi will hand over the baton of the G-20 Presidency to Brazilian President Lula on September 10, who will formally assume this presidency on December 1 for the next year.
Besides President Biden, the other participants include French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who have all confirmed their participation in the Summit.
The G-20 member countries represent around 85 percent of the global GDP, over 75 percent of the international trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU).
