Saturday, September 21

Biden heads to New Delhi to attend G20 as global tensions rise

Biden travels to New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit.
Biden travels to New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit.

Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Maria Ortiz

President Joe Biden will travel to New Delhi to meet the world’s largest economies at the Group of 20 (G20) summit and once again flex his muscles as chief diplomat.

“I am addressing the G20, the premier forum for international economic cooperation, focused on advancing American priorities, delivering for developing nations, and showing our commitment to the G20 as a forum that can deliver. Every time we participate, we improve,” Biden said in a statement.

G20 posters welcome domestic and foreign visitors in New Delhi, India.
G20 posters welcome domestic and foreign visitors in New Delhi, India. /Photo: Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

President Joe Biden will arrive in New Delhi on Friday for the annual G20 meeting with plans to counter growing military and economic aggression from Russia and China and demonstrate the United States’ commitment to developing countries.

“The United States’ commitment to the G20 has not wavered, and we hope this G20 summit demonstrates that the world’s major economies can work together even in difficult times,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

The Group of 20

The G20 or Group of Twenty is an international forum of governors and presidents of central banks, whose goal is to discuss policies related to the promotion of international financial stability, and is one of the main spaces for political and economic deliberation in the world. .

An advertisement with the G20 summit logo on a street in New Delhi, India, on September 6, 2023.
An advertisement with the logo of the G20 summit on a street in New Delhi, India, on September 6, 2023. /Photo: SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images

Created in 1999, it is made up of twenty industrialized and emerging countries from all continents: Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, United States, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico , the United Kingdom, Russia, South Africa and Turkey, plus the European Union. Spain is a permanent guest.

The Group of 20 represents 85% of the world’s gross domestic product, 75% of international trade and two-thirds of the world’s population.

Russia’s war in Ukraine, climate change, the economy and outcomes for developing countries will be priority issues for President Biden when he meets with other world leaders, Sullivan said.

Two notable absences

The leaders of two prominent member countries, Russia and China, will not attend the G20 Summit in India.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the summit for the second year in a row, as will Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both leaders will send other officials in their absence.

China has not said why Xi will not attend. Putin has not left Russia since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him in March for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.