G20 Summit Reflects Russia's Success, Power of Global South, Expert Says
© AP Photo / Manish Swarup
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VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) - On Saturday, the G20 leaders adopted the New Delhi Summit Declaration, where they said they had different views on and assessments of the Ukraine conflict. The compromise statement reflected a stance far softer than those individually adapted by the United States and its allies.
The results of the G20 summit in New Delhi has reflected Russia's success at the event and the rising power of the Global South "in action," as it counters more and more actively the West's efforts to impose its own agenda, geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar told Sputnik.
"It [the declaration] goes much further than Russia’s success. There is obvious [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov’s diplomatic success … But this is much more important, because this is the power of the Global South in action. The Global South in G20 is probably G11 or G12. So it’s already a majority Global South organization … This particular declaration was the Global South telling G7, 'Look, you don’t make the rules anymore, you cannot literally hijack every summit that we have to impose your agenda,'" Escobar said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia's Vladivostok.
9 September 2023, 18:12
The expert also noted that the declaration also shows that most of the countries in the Global South are against sanctions on Russia and favor a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which is "the exact opposite of the American approach."
"This started even before the BRICS-11 [the BRICS summit in Johannesburg where the bloc decided to expand to 11 states] last month. And G20 reflected already what happened with BRICS-11. The power of the Global South is now overwhelming. It is not dictating an agenda, of course, but it is already saying, 'That’s it, you don’t control any agenda anymore, you have to listen to us.' So this goes way beyond an obvious Russian diplomatic success," Escobar also said.
The analyst stated that six months ago no one could ever imagine what is happening now in the international arena, with developing countries having more influence on developments across the globe than ever before.
"Not to mention that 18 months ago we could never imagine that we would have this turning-upside-down of the tectonic plates in geopolitics in a sense that the Global South has an active voice and the Global South is starting to dictate the priorities from now on. And the priorities are not forever wars, economic exploitation, a single currency, a system that has been benefiting the US for 75 years or so," Escobar concluded.
The results of the G20 summit held in New Delhi from September 9-10 have received mixed reviews. The Financial Times reported that the declaration was "a blow to Western countries" over the lack of a global consensus in support of Ukraine. Russian G20 Sherpa Svetlana Lukash said, in turn, that the declaration demonstrates the group's balanced position on the Ukraine conflict and its intention to settle all conflicts around the world.
