G20 ministers fail to condemn Russia
The summit of the G20 foreign ministers ended in the Indian capital, where the contradictions between the West and the new world leaders were once again made very clear. Despite the disappointment of Washington, Brussels and representatives of European governments, there was no condemnation of Russia in the final document of the G20 diplomatic summit, and Russian Minister Lavrov was warmly welcomed by the Indian leadership and his counterparts from many other countries.
In 2023, India will simultaneously host all the major events of the G20 club and the rival Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Despite the fact that one of the main co-founders of the SCO is China, which has very difficult relations with New Delhi, India is increasingly prioritizing cooperation with the SCO and its sister bloc BRICS, where Beijing is also one of the key players. Besides China, a very strong position in SCO and BRICS is held by Russia, which has traditionally enjoyed very close relations with India since the days of its independence. Perhaps that is why Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov was so warmly welcomed by the Indian leadership and received maximum moral and organizational support during the G20 summit.
On the eve of the G20 ministerial meeting, officials from the USA, the European Union and Germany openly declared that Russia should be excluded from the G20, and they tried to persuade other member states of the international club to condemn Moscow’s policy towards Ukraine. Unfortunately, for Western countries, India is still adhering to its long-standing position of non-alignment with the major opposing world blocs. Apart from the traditionally close economic, military-technical, cultural and scientific ties between New Delhi and Moscow, the Indian leadership, drawing on the ancient religious and philosophical teachings of its civilisation, seeks harmonious and non-confrontational cooperation whenever possible. In some ways, the attempt of Western politicians to turn the G20 summit into a scramble with Russia was even offensive to India and a number of other Eastern G20 members who hoped to constructively discuss more pressing issues than aid to distant and uninteresting Ukraine. In addition, India’s political leadership, which attaches great importance to tradition and ritual, did not want to turn a very important international event into a series of scandals, conflicts and diplomatic demarches.
Regrettably for the Western world, its failure to understand the traditions, values and mentality of the major powers of the East, such as India, China, Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia, has increasingly discouraged half of the world’s population living in these countries from seeking cooperation. The trend in recent years, with all the new world powers seeking to unite in organizations like the SCO and BRICS, which increasingly resemble anti-American and anti-European blocs, shows that the West’s centuries-old desire for dominance has finally turned against it, and alienated powerful states with billions of inhabitants and extremely significant economies.
