🇷🇺🇮🇳 Russia and India in the G20: Privileged Partnership and the Proximity of Strategic Culture

On April 7, the Valdai Club, in partnership with leading Indian think tanks, held an expert discussion on “Russian-Indian Relations During India's G20 Presidency”. Oleg Barabanov, the programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club, acted as moderator.

💬 Marat Berdyev, ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, G20 Sous-Sherpa of Russia, described relations between Russia and India as a particularly privileged strategic partnership. Russia and India are jointly seeking to dismantle neo-colonial practices, advocate a multilateral world order and believe that the voice of developing countries should be adequately reflected both in the system of global economic governance and in international relations.

💬 Nandan Unnikrishnan, Distinguished Fellow at the Indian Observer Research Foundation, acknowledged that the events of the past year have had a significant impact on Russian-Indian relations. Russia and India are being forced to deal with problems that they did not create, such as the effects of sanctions, Russia's financial isolation, and withdrawal from Western systems. Reviewing the bilateral international relations that the two countries have, Unnikrishnan noted that India has no other privileged partnerships of such quality as the one it maintains with Russia, but it seeks to strengthen ties with other players, including the United States, which is generating tension in Russian-Indian relations.

💬 “The crisis allows us to reconsider even very friendly and good relations in order to pursue greater interaction and a real search,” believes Viktoria Panova, Russia’s Sherpa in W20 and Vice-Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. She noted that the West is exerting unprecedented pressure on India in the G20 format on issues related to interaction with Russia, but India remains neutral and promotes an agenda that is important for the socio-economic development of all G20 countries. Panova considers it necessary to develop Russian-Indian relations within the framework of the BRICS+ format inside the G20.

💬 Raj Kumar Sharma, Visiting Fellow, United Service Institution of India and Post Doc Fellow, Delhi School of Transnational Affairs, University of Delhi. In the strategic culture of Russia and India, he sees a lot in common and considers this a guarantee that friendly relations will be maintained between the two countries in the future. This commonality of approaches promotes mutual understanding.

💬 Gleb Makarevich, Deputy Head of the Centre for the Indian Ocean Region, IMEMO RAS, called it “an unfortunate paradox” that, although the positions of Russia and India on most of the global issues on the G20 agenda coincide, Western countries are trying to replace the discussion of these problems with a discussion on the conflict in Ukraine. “This contradiction stalls the work of the organisation and hinders the achievement of the stated goals,” he said, adding that the achievement of these goals is nevertheless quite possible and Russian-Indian cooperation contributes to this.

💬 Nivedita Das Kundu, Senior Fellow at York University and Academic Director at Liaison College, noted that India in the G20 is promoting a global economic governance agenda and acting as the voice of the Global South, paying special attention to issues relevant to it. She expressed her hope that in the context of India's G20 presidency, Russia and India will also develop their relations, which are characterised by a long-standing strategic partnership.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/russia-and-india-in-the-g20-privileged-partnership-and-the-proximity-of-strategic-culture/

#Norms_and_Values #India #G20

🗣🗣🗣

🇮🇳2️⃣0⃣ From September 8-10, 2023, the forthcoming G20 Summit in New Delhi will host many significant world leaders.

India is all set to host the G20 Summit and they are busy with massive preparations showcasing India’s art, culture and traditions. High on the agenda and high in optics, this is the most awaited international event of the year for India.

India’s G20 presidency has been fraught with challenges. The 3D’s – Democracy, Diplomacy and Dialogue – resonated all throughout the G20 meetings in 2023, as the world navigated through the difficult period of conflict and pandemic, leading up to a food and energy crisis.

To bring consensus and to get everybody on board on various issues would depend on how New Delhi would navigate through every punctuation mark in the final document.

This is a big task, but India is determined to achieve it, writes Nivedita Das Kundu.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/india-s-g-20-summit-promotes-democracy-diplomacy/

#ModernDiplomacy #India #G20 #G20NewDelhi

🗣🗣🗣

🌐 In the G20, we have a very clearly consolidated bloc of countries of the political West, and, on the other hand, the consolidation of the global Non-West is far from optimal.

Let’s hope that the current Brazilian presidency of the G20 will be able to correct this situation, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-role-of-the-g20-in-the-development-of-a-multip/

#GlobalAlternatives #G20

🗣🗣🗣

⏰ TODAY at 12:00 noon Moscow time, the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion titled “The West against the rest of the world: the role of the G20 in harmonising approaches to global development and promoting sustainable multilateralism.”

❓What could serve as the sustainable harmonisation of different positions in a multipolar world?
❓Is greater consolidation possible among non-Western G20 members?
❓Is there the political will for a constructive dialogue within the G20?
❓How can the G20 format be more effective in bridging the gap between Western and non-Western approaches to global politics, economics and social development?

Participants in the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.

Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen.

#GlobalAlternatives #G20

🗣🗣🗣

🎥 LIVE: at 12:00 noon Moscow time, we are starting an expert discussion titled “The West against the rest of the world: the role of the G20 in harmonising approaches to global development and promoting sustainable multilateralism.”

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239180

#GlobalAlternatives #G20

🗣🗣🗣

🌐 The most promising scenario for the future of the G20 group is the strengthening of the G20+ framework.

There are two key areas for improvement:

1️⃣ First, it is necessary to shift the balance within the G20 between Western and non-Western countries towards increased representation of the Global South and non-West.

2️⃣ Second, the invited G20+ members should not only be participants at the summit meetings, but also engage in all other G20 activities throughout the year. 

Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, reflects on various scenarios for the evolution of the G20.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/what-are-the-prospects-for-the-g20-format/

#GlobalAlternatives #G20

🗣🗣🗣

🎥 LIVE: at 4:00 pm Moscow time, the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion dedicated to the end of Brazil's presidency and the beginning of South Africa's presidency of the G20.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239240

#GlobalAlternatives #G20 #Brazil #SouthAfrica

🗣🗣🗣

🗣 On December 12, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted a an expert discussion dedicated to the end of Brazil's presidency and the beginning of South Africa's presidency of the G20.

📷 Photo gallery

🎥 Video

#GlobalAlternatives #G20 #Brazil #SouthAfrica

🗣🗣🗣

🌐 Amid Geopolitical Tensions: Will the G20 Keep the Global South Agenda?

On December 12, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion dedicated to the end of Brazil’s presidency in the G20 and the beginning of South Africa’s presidency. Moderator Oleg Barabanov noted that Brazil’s year brought serious, qualitative changes. He proposed to discuss its results and plans for the next year.

💬 Marco Fernandes, editor of Wenhua Zongheng International, called the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro a major diplomatic victory for Brazil. He emphasized that Brazil had achieved a lot in terms of the agenda. Fernandes believes that the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is the most important initiative, because, according to FAO, 733 million people on the planet still suffer from hunger, although humanity produces much more food than it needs. “This is essentially a crime,” the analyst said. Against this background, questions arise about the credibility of the G7, whose projects for the development of the countries of the Global South are proclaimed with much fanfare, but quickly fizzle out.

💬 Mikatekiso Kubayi, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD) at UNISA, presented a view from South Africa. He pointed out the need to ensure continuity with Brazil and consistency of approaches. Speaking about South Africa’s plans, he noted that such areas as the fight against climate change, the fight against inequality, food security, reform of international organizations and global trade infrastructure, digital transformation and investment are especially important for it as an African country.

💬 Marina Larionova, Director of the Center for International Institutions Studies at RANEPA and Russia’s Sherpa in the Think 20 (T20), sees a significant achievement for Brazil in making another step towards depoliticizing the G20 documents. As a result, the problem of geopolitical confrontation remained outside the final document of the summit, which made it possible to formulate a constructive approach. She believes that Brazil has contributed to the consolidation of the influence of developing countries in the G20 and the strengthening of the G20 as a platform for economic cooperation.

💬 Viktoria Panova, Head of the BRICS Expert Council Centre, Vice-Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia’s Sherpa in the Women’s Twenty (W20) noted as a positive moment that the G20 has been led by countries of the Global South for the past three years and the next chairman is also one of them. The question is whether real resources and finances will be behind the big promises. The G20 is important because it continues to bring together the BRICS+, the G7 and the growing regional powers. From this perspective, the value of the group is unconditional, she stressed, making clear that “at least some dialogue is taking place here,” unlike many other venues.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/amid-geopolitical-tensions-will-the-g20-keep-the-global-south-agenda/

#GlobalAlternatives #G20 #Brazil #SouthAfrica

🗣🗣🗣