'G20 summit a crowning moment for India; a loss for China'

The just concluded G-20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi wherein the communique reflected the success of Indian diplomacy, is a crowning moment for India and a big loss for China, the head of an India-centric American business advocacy and strategic group said on Tuesday.

"So basically, two things came out. One is that you have a single communique coming out, but more important is that India came out as the leader of the Global South. That also means that it was a loss for China because they did not send their president there," Mukesh Aghi, the president of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum, told PTI in an interview.

"G-20 is a crowning moment for India. Congratulations to the (Indian) leadership,” Aghi said, adding: “And to be honest, we were surprised when we heard that there was a communique coming out because we thought there would be no communique coming out (of G-20)."

"They (Indian leadership) delivered, not just only on the messaging, but the process also. For the first time, we saw G-20 where you had so many cities in India engaged in pre-G-20 meetings. The whole country was involved, and all major cities were involved. That means you spruce up the city, you build the cities, making sure the guests have a positive impression about the city,” the businessperson said days after the conclusion of the historic G-20 Summit in New Delhi.

"It led to the session, which when G-20 came in, and I think to get the communique out in a fractured world shows the success of Indian diplomacy. It shows the success of the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. So, I would say it was a tremendous success from a global perspective,” Aghi said.

The decision of Chinese President Xi Jinping not to attend the G-20 Summit was in fact a blessing in disguise, he felt.

“I would say that President Xi not coming in, basically created a vacuum where President Biden and Prime Minister Modi could drive their agenda much more freely and they were able to get a communique out,” he said.

India, which is an almost USD 4 trillion economy and will be USD 5 trillion in the next two years, is becoming an economic powerhouse, Aghi observed.

“But more importantly, India is a rising power and it'll become one day a great power. I think the diplomatic skills, the execution of a flawless G-20 sends the message that India has arrived on the scene and it is becoming a great power,” he said.

“And to be able to execute among 20 different leaders and also a kudos to India for getting Africa into G-20. That sends a message that India is a voice for the Global South,” he asserted.

The success of the G-20 Summit reflects the leadership of the prime minister, he observed. “He (Modi) basically set up a G-20 agenda, focusing on 'One Earth, One Family, One Future. (HE) also basically brought in the developing countries to the process itself. So, it is not what I call a military might agenda or an economic might agenda; it is a compassionate agenda, trying to see how you can work with emerging countries to solve the issues from food to supply chain, from energy to technology itself. So, I think it was an agenda which basically focused on One Earth, One Family, One Future,” he said.