Status: 18.09.2023, 07:08 a.m.
By: Christiane Kühl
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The G20 summit in New Delhi was surprisingly successful. The states agreed on the expansion of renewable energies. And on the sidelines, a new trade route from India to Europe was decided.
New Delhi/Frankfurt – Summits are usually strictly choreographed, and the unexpected rarely happens. But the G20 summit in New Delhi, which has just ended, was full of surprises. Not only did the host, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, succeed in persuading the quarrelling states to issue a joint final communiqué. The summit also provided evidence of how the environment of major events can be used for separate agreements when there are good ideas.
Thus, on the sidelines of the meeting with the EU, the USA, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, India signed a memorandum of understanding for a huge rail and shipping project. The partners want to create two transport corridors for trade between India and Europe. According to the U.S. government, the infrastructure project, called "India – Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor" (IMEC), is intended to boost economic growth, create incentives for new investments and thus bring about a "transformative integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East". Participants described the agreement as "historic". The Memorandum of Understanding is also a signal that the West and the emerging Global South can certainly work together if the right approaches are in place.
Trade corridors from India to Europe: Response to China's Silk Road
Just in time for its tenth anniversary, China's New Silk Road is getting a real competitor program for the first time. The EU had already announced its Global Gateway networking and infrastructure project at the beginning of 2022 and declared its intention to mobilise around 2027 billion euros from state and private sources by 300. So far, 87 projects are in the pipeline or have already been implemented. So far, however, these have mainly been individual projects, such as submarine cables, roads or bridges. So far, Global Gateway has not been such a real competitor for the New Silk Road.
Having just signed, IMEC is already surprisingly concrete, even if there is no figure for the costs yet. The Eastern Corridor is intended to connect India and the Persian Gulf, including through better ports in the United Arab Emirates and new submarine cables for internet and electricity. The connection from the Middle East to Europe forms the northern corridor, among other things by means of a new railway line from the Emirates across Saudi Arabia via Jordan to Israel. It connects states that were enemies not so long ago, which in the best case can have a truly integrative effect.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is celebrating: The G20 summit he hosted was surprisingly successful. © IMAGO/Hindustan Times
Modi: New programme promotes India's integration with Europe
Along the tracks, the partners want to lay cables for electricity and internet, as well as lines for transporting hydrogen. From the Israeli port city of Haifa, the cargo is then transported by ship, for example to ports on the Mediterranean. It makes sense for Global Gateway to be integrated with IMEC and to finance some of the projects. The new link will accelerate trade between India and Europe by 40 percent, said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Currently, trade with the ship goes through the Egyptian Suez Canal.
"The IMEC can help promote economic integration between India and Europe," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, while U.S. President Joe Biden called it "a big deal, a really big deal." He had been instrumental in pushing the project, even if it is not about trade flows to the USA. Washington sees things primarily in the larger geopolitical context. And one of the most important goals is to bind India more closely to the West as a counterweight to the People's Republic of China.
China in New Delhi only as spectators
China's head of state Xi Jinping was not even present in New Delhi. And so this time he could not throw his great political weight into the balance. Instead, his premier Li Qiang had to take note of the new project in New Delhi. On the sidelines of the G20 meeting, Li immediately called for more cooperation with the EU. China and Europe, as two main drivers of global development, should cooperate even more closely, Li Qiang said in a conversation with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to the state news agency Xinhua. The People's Republic stands ready to work with Europe to host an EU-China summit this year and strengthen mutual trust.
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It is still completely unclear whether the IMEC plans will be implemented as decided. But at least there should be more details in 60 days. When Xi Jinping launched the New Silk Road with a speech in 2013, he also wanted to better connect the states of Central Asia with China and create new trade routes through new infrastructure. Initially, the response was low. In the meantime, the Silk Road has become a multi-billion dollar global program. This is certainly an incentive for the ambitious Modi.
G20 a great success for India's Modi
In general, the G20 summit is a great success for India's prime minister. Before the summit, expectations had been very low. In order to get a common final text at all, the criticism of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine was strongly generalized. There is criticism of this, including from Kiev – and yet it is a success that it was possible to reach an agreement at all. Many modes would not have believed that this would be possible.
The almost 30-page document also includes the plan to triple electricity generation from renewable energies by 2030. The idea came from Kenya, but there was also a lot of controversy on this point at first. The G20 final declaration now emphasizes "the significant investments needed for the energy transition," writes Linda Kalcher, director of the EU climate think tank Strategic Perspectives on X. "This is a great success of the Indian presidency, especially in difficult geopolitical times."
At India's instigation, the African Union (AU) was also admitted to the G20. Modi was thus able to position his country as an advocate for the Global South. Otherwise, China likes to take on this role. And so the G20 summit is a clear point win for Modi against his rival in Beijing.
