Catching up on diplomacy
The Osaka edition of G-20 turned out to be a great success in the eyes of the global leaders that had gathered in the Japanese city. The 14th meeting of the group of 20 led to discussions of a flurry of topics ranging across global concerns such as trade, terrorism, defence et al. The most sought-after interaction was between the leaders of US and China who sealed a trade war truce at the meeting where Trump curtailed further tariffs on Chinese goods while granting relief to Chinese technological giant Huawei. Trump's conciliatory tone was a drastic change in his stance from his earlier unilateralism that dragged the Sino-US trade war while locking horns with Iran. While he assured Xi of a softer stance, he allayed Indian Prime Minister's concern over Gulf tension. Trump also extended a handshake initiative with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarised zone between North Korea and South Korea highlighting his personal agenda to extend the diplomatic dialogue with Kim after a failed Hanoi summit. Prime Minister Modi had a rather successful overseas dialogue with Trump, Xi, Putin amongst others. In fact, the last day of the Osaka meet saw Modi hold bilaterals with leaders of Brazil, Turkey, Australia, Singapore, and Chile discussing popular issues such as trade, counter-terrorism, defence, etc. Cooperation over trade and investment as well as security and counter-terrorism was the main theme in all of Modi's bilateral meetings. The key was to deepen the cooperation in order to bring together global forces in the fray pacing towards a mutual goal. The trilateral association between Russia, India, and China (RIC) added depth to the already-initiated talks at Bishkek, earlier during the SCO meet. Xi pressed for increased cooperation in the 5G network, high technology, connectivity as well as energy and security between the three nations urging that they "advocate a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept". Xi's assertion involved the mention of concerted efforts of the three countries to combat terrorism in all forms, Climate Change, as well as cybersecurity. Xi's attitude also suggests a rise in cooperation between India and China even as India was in line to register unprecedented success in the bilateral relationship with the US. Russia, India, and China are set to meet again in Vladivostok during the Easter Economic Forum where Modi has been invited as the chief guest. While there is no iota of doubt that the increased cooperation between RIC can be highly beneficial for the countries, summits such as G20 ought to be in the past once tensions are on the rise. However, Xi's composure hinted towards greater cooperation purely because of the trade war truce registered by Trump and him which is a matter of relief for China given the heightened tensions the two countries were engrossed in due to the tariff war.
Global issues are mainly the cause of such meets but the scope of bilaterals is what makes such meetings more eventful. Counterterrorism efforts needed unanimous feedback and to this end, global leaders discussed the rise in terrorism given the recent attacks such as the New Zealand live-streamed church attack, Easter Sunday bombings, as well as the Pulwama carnage that resulted in many casualties and gave a jolt to respective nations. These unfortunate incidents have definitely risen the bar for global leaders and induced a sense of urgency towards countering terrorism. The unanimous G20 resolve to safeguard the internet as a medium to fund and facilitate terrorism and extremism is gravely required. UN resolutions earmark steps to be pursued by countries in adhering by drafted legislation to ensure misuse of the internet. Osaka summit provided the platform for global leaders to assess and share their concerns and together pledge to resolve it through cooperation in different areas. Bilateral and trilateral dialogues only contribute to the grand effect of global cooperation and as far as the major economies are concerned, it was a sublime effort to reach out to each other and deliver warm regards with a prospect to develop and prosper while combating issues. All that is required is true adherence to the projected commitments and increased effort in tackling rising global concerns. A summit is only as successful as its participants and their efforts.
