Indian prime minister Modi wraps up G20 summit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday wrapped up a G20 summit that played down deep divisions over the war in Ukraine and climate change, but gave him a moment in the diplomatic spotlight. G20 leaders have been deeply riven over the Ukraine war, with Russian President Vladimir Putin skipping the summit entirely. Leaders of the Group of 20, which brings together Russia and China as well as some of Ukraine's most ardent backers, have long struggled to agree on much, in particular about the 18-month-old conflict. Host India pressed members to agree a common statement on Saturday that denounced the use of force for territorial gain, but shied away from direct criticism of Russia. Kyiv said the G20 had "nothing to be proud of" but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who stood in for Putin at the meeting, on Sunday claimed a diplomatic win. "We were able to prevent the West's attempts to 'Ukrainize' the summit agenda," the veteran diplomat said, dubbing the two-day gathering a "success". "The text doesn't mention Russia at all." On Sunday, Modi formally closed the summit by passing on a ceremonial gavel to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country will take the bloc's presidency in December. "We cannot let geopolitical issues sequester the G20 agenda of discussions," Lula said, an implicit reference to wrangling over the Ukraine war. "We have no interest in a divided G20. We need peace and cooperation instead of conflict." Indian civil servant Amitabh Kant wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the compromise text on Ukraine had involved "over 200 hours of non-stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings (and) 15 drafts". But despite meeting in what the EU's climate monitor says is likely to be the hottest year in human history, the leaders failed to agree to a phase-out of fossil fuels, despite a UN report a day earlier deeming the drawdown "indispensable" to achieving net-zero emissions. Instead, they backed a target of tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030, while committing only to a "phasedown" of coal "in line with national circumstances". G20 members Russia and Saudi Arabia are major oil exporters, while coal consumption is rising in China and India. Modi, who painted the summit as India's diplomatic coming of age and is pushing for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, celebrated the accession of the 55-member African Union to the G20. As the G20, the grouping included 19 countries and the European Union, representing 85 percent of the world GDP, with South Africa its only member state from the continent. Modi has sought to position New Delhi as a voice for the Global South and the move turned the grouping into a "people's G20". Lula said Putin would be free to attend next year's event in Rio de Janeiro, despite Brazil being a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued a warrant for the Russian leader's arrest for war crimes. "If I'm the president of Brazil and if he comes to Brazil, there's no way that he will be arrested," he told Indian news network Firstpost on Saturday. (AFP)