New Delhi: British economist Jim O’Neill who is credited with coining the acronym BRICS says the success of the G20 Summit in New Delhi makes Prime Minister Narendra Modi the ‘clear winner’.
O’Neill noted in his article for Project Syndicate that the joint declaration that emerged in New Delhi offers further confirmation that the G20 is the only body with the authority and breadth to provide truly global answers to global challenges. Neither the BRICS nor the G7 has the capability to address global issues.
Member states reached a consensus to address a wide range of issues. Despite obvious challenges, they managed to reassert the G20’s relevance after a lengthy period of deliberations. “We should applaud those who played the biggest roles – presumably India and the US – in pushing through the final communiqué,” he said.
“The New Delhi declaration could be the first step in a stronger concerted effort to address global issues like climate change, the need for a revamped World Bank, infectious disease control, economic stability, the war in Ukraine, and other matters. Though this agenda was agreed upon in the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Russian and Chinese representatives who did attend would not have signed on to anything without having cleared it with their respective governments,” he stated in Project Syndicate.
The article went on to say that the significance of the most recent BRICS summit was diminished by the Chinese President’s absence from the G20. “As things stand, PM Modi is the undisputed victor of this summitry season thanks to the success of the G20 summit. He said in the article, “Perceptions count, and right now he seems more like a visionary statesman than Xi does.”
“The G20 achieved another subtle, but important, step by agreeing to expand its ranks to include the African Union – making it a G21. This breakthrough gives Modi a clear diplomatic victory, allowing him to burnish his image as a champion of the Global South. It also emphasises the BRICS’ own expansions being seemingly random in nature,” the British economist opined.
