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G20 Summit in India: Modi's Personal PR Extravaganza?

Brofessor back to making a claim, quoting a brofessor’s article written in a blog owned by the Brofessor.

The timing of this thread says just one thing - Burning smell can be felt far and wide.
 
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Read, US is constructiing the biggest consulate in the world in India, new Delhi.

US will fight China to the last Indian.

It's dangerous to be enemy of US, absolutely fatal to be a friend.

Cut the crap - most countries will die to be allies of USA - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Canada
 
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Can #India Challenge #China for Leadership of the ‘Global South’? India still has a long way to go to be called a great power. Even by its own optimistic estimates, it will not become a developed nation for decades. #Modi #G20 #Hindutva #BJP #US https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/world/asia/india-china-global-south.html

That disparity was clear during the recent summit of the BRICS nations, which include Brazil, Russia and South Africa in addition to India and China. Even after Mr. Modi had spent a year promoting India as the voice of the global south, it was Mr. Xi who received the royal treatment.

In one video of a side meeting, the leaders, including Mr. Modi, all waited as Mr. Xi arrived to shake hands. They remained standing until after Mr. Xi had settled into a much larger seat than theirs — an entire sofa.

“Money talks,” said Ziyanda Stuurman, a senior analyst with the Eurasia Group’s Africa Team. “Whether it’s India or the U.S. or Europe, if they are not able to match or be as serious as China with rolling out funding, China will still enjoy this place of leadership.”



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A rising India has moved aggressively to champion developing nations, pursuing compromise in polarized times and promising to make America listen.

For more than a decade, China has courted developing countries frustrated with the West. Beijing’s rise from poverty was a source of inspiration. And as it challenged the postwar order, especially with its global focus on development through trade, loans and infrastructure projects, it sent billions of much-needed dollars to poor nations.

But now, China is facing competition from another Asian giant in the contest to lead what has come to be called the “global south.” A newly confident India is presenting itself as a different kind of leader for developing countries — one that is big, important and better positioned than China in an increasingly polarized world to push the West to alter its ways.

Exhibit A: the unexpected consensus India managed at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi over the weekend.

With help from other developing nations, India persuaded the United States and Europe to soften a statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine so the forum could focus on the concerns of poorer countries, including global debt and climate financing. India also presided over the most tangible result so far of its intensifying campaign to champion the global south: the admission of the African Union to the G20, putting it on par with the European Union.

“There is a structural shift happening in the global order,” said Kishore Mahbubani, a former ambassador for Singapore and author of “Has China Won?” “The power of the West is declining, and the weight and power of the global south — the world outside the West — is increasing.”

Only one country can be a bridge between “the West and the rest,” Mr. Mahbubani added, “and that’s India.”

At a time when a new Cold War of sorts between the United States and China seems to frame every global discussion, India’s pitch has clear appeal.

Neither the United States nor China is especially beloved among developing nations. The United States is criticized for focusing more on military might than economic assistance. The signature piece of China’s outreach — its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative — has fueled a backlash as Beijing has resisted renegotiating crushing debt that has left many countries facing the risk of default.
 
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi successfully transformed routine rotational G20 presidency into an extravagant personal PR exercise this week. The Indian mass media and the general public saw Mr. Modi's face plastered all over the Indian capital. Some analysts described it as the kickoff of the Indian leader's political campaign for national elections scheduled for next year. As Mr. Modi spoke of "one earth, one family, one future", his right-wing Hindutva allies continued their unhindered campaign of murder and mayhem against the Christian community in the Indian state of Manipur. Globally, too, Mr. Modi lived up to his reputation of "Divider In Chief" as the Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the Russian leader Vladimir Putin chose to stay away from the gathering attended by all the western leaders. Both China and Russia stand in the way of the continuation of centuries-old unchallenged western hegemony of the world.

Modi: Hero of Hatred at G20. Source: India Today

After the Gujarat anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002, Narendra Modi made the cover of India Today magazine with the caption "Hero of Hatred". Modi was denied a visa to visit the United States. The US visa ban on Modi was lifted in 2014 after he became prime minister. Since then, Narendra Modi's image has been rehabilitated by the West as the US and Western Europe seek allies in Asia to counter the rise of China. However, Modi's actions on the ground in India confirm that he remains "Hero of Hatred" and "Divider In Chief" at his core. A recent two-part BBC documentary explains this reality in significant detail. The first part focuses on the 2002 events in Gujarat when Modi as the state chief minister ordered the police to not stop the Hindu mobs murdering Muslims and burning their homes and businesses. The second part looks at Modi government's anti-Muslim policies, including the revocation of Kashmir's autonomy (article 370) and a new citizenship law (CAA 2019) that discriminates against Muslims. It shows the violent response by security forces to peaceful protests against the new laws, and interviews the family members of people who were killed in the 2020 Delhi riots orchestrated by Modi's allies.


In a recent piece for Nikkei Asia, Indian journalist Swaminathan Aiyar dismisses Modi's attempts to recast himself as "Vishwaguru", the teacher of the world. Here's an excerpt of Aiyar's piece titled "India's Modi is not the world's guru":

"Modi's notion of being the world's guru is just as ridiculous as his twisted history of "centuries of enslavement," which has been used to attack India's religious minorities. A guru is nothing without disciples. If India or Modi himself is the world's guru, who are the disciples? The least likely candidates are Western powers which believe, rightly or wrongly, that they are the true global gurus. It might seem that India's disciples would be most likely to come from its geographic neighborhood rather than distant lands. But even a cursory examination shows otherwise. Does Pakistan regard India as a guru? No, it is India's greatest foe. It has allied with China, India's other major foe, to try and put India in its place. No disciples there. What about Bangladesh, which India helped to achieve independence from Pakistan in 1971? There is now little gratitude for India's help, which is accurately viewed as a ploy to split and disempower Pakistan rather than an altruistic move to aid Bangladeshis. Sri Lanka? Many there harbor ill will toward New Delhi in the belief that it supported the development of the Tamil Tiger insurgency when Indira Gandhi was India's prime minister in the early 1980s. The insurgency became a civil war in which up to 100,000 were killed. Hard to find disciples there. What about Nepal, a predominantly Hindu nation? Ever since then-Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru intervened in a royal power struggle in 1951, Nepalese have viewed New Delhi as an imperial power to be feared. India has on more than one occasion blocked essential supplies to Nepal to try to exert political influence. Nepalese may be Hindus, but they are anything but Modi's disciples"


President Joseph R. Biden and other western leaders are making a huge mistake by coddling divisive and dangerous Modi. While the western nations are seeking an alliance with India to counter rising China, the Hindutva leadership of India has no intention of confronting China. In a piece titled “America’s Bad Bet on India”, Indian-American analyst Ashley Tellis noted that the Biden administration had “overlooked India’s democratic erosion and its unhelpful foreign policy choices” in the hopes that the US can “solicit” New Delhi’s “contributions toward coalition defense”.

Earlier this year, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed New Delhi's unwillingness to confront China in an interview: “Look they (China) are a bigger economy. What am I going to do? As a smaller economy, I am going to pick up a fight with bigger economy? It is not a question of being a reactionary; it is a question of common sense.”

Modi's India is driven much more by a desire to bring back what the right-wing Hindus see as the "glory days" of India through "Hindu Raj" of the entire South Asia region, including Pakistan. The arms and technology being given to Modi will more likely be used against India's smaller neighbors, not against China.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

South Asia Investor Review

Can Modi's India be Trusted with Nukes?

Balakot and Kashmir: Fact Checkers Expose Indian Lies

India's "Hindu Nazis" Join Forces With Western Neo-Nazis to Threaten World Peace

India is the Biggest Winner of Ukraine War and US-China Competition

Modi's Blunders and Delusions

Modi Coopting Chandrayaan Success For Hindutva Propaganda

Pakistani-American Journalist Questions Modi About Minorities in India

G20 in Kashmir: Modi's PR Ploy

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Are India's Leaders Uneducated?

Vast Majority of Indians Believe Nuclear War Against Pakistan is Winnable
Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel

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Professor Saab,
You should be discussing why G20 is being held in New Delhi and not in Islamabad?

You should be more aware these days that India is in a different league with 5th biggest economy. Where does Pakistan stand in this economic race?
 
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Subramanian Swamy
@Swamy39
If the G20 New Delhi Meeting is considered an organisational success, no one can deny it. But it was an unnecessary expenditure of the State revenue collected from tax payers merely for a two day conference. Finally except a feeble consensus nothing else was achieved.

 
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@suhasinih
Breakdown of how India spent RS.4,100 cr or nearly $500mn on the G20 summit and comparisons to past G20s


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Thanks to G20, the capital is all spruced up. But at what cost? This was India’s first ever G20. and we spent a whopping Rs. 4100 Crore. How was the money spent? Watch the breakdown here.

 
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Cut the crap - most countries will die to be allies of USA - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Canada

Of course they would. No doubt about it. Not popular to say around here, but it's a fact
 
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Of course they would. No doubt about it. Not popular to say around here, but it's a fact


Henry Kissinger once said, "It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal".
 
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Narendra Modi is widening India’s fierce regional divides​

The southern states feel increasingly oppressed​



Narendra modi likes to pull rabbits out of hats. One evening in 2016 the Indian prime minister declared that 500- and 1,000-rupee notes—representing 86% of cash by value—would cease to be legal tender by the end of the night. In 2020 he locked down the country at only a few hours’ notice. So it is hardly surprising that speculation has been running rampant since Mr Modi’s government announced that it is to convene a “special session” of Parliament, from September 18th to 22nd. What trick does he have up his sleeve now?

For the moment the guessing game has settled on two possibilities. One is that Mr Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp) will change the country’s name in English from India to Bharat (which is already the name in Hindi). The nameplate Mr Modi sat behind as he negotiated with g20 leaders at a summit over the weekend has added fuel to that theory. The other guess is that Mr Modi intends to reorganise the electoral calendar, so that India’s never-ending carnival of state and federal elections henceforth take place all at the same time, once every five years. In either case the change would serve a project Mr Modi has been pushing from the start: trying to centralise and homogenise a staggeringly vast and diverse country.


Since coming to power in 2014 the bjp has set about transforming India into something more like a European nation-state. That vision involves both strengthening the central government and promoting a pan-Indian, Hindu-nationalist identity. The government routinely emphasises that India is “one nation”, implementing policies such as “one nation, one ration card” (for subsidised grain) and proposing many more, such as “one nation, one uniform” (for the police). The idea of synchronising polls has been on the bjp’s manifesto since 2014. It is known as “one nation, one election”.

In economic matters, the government’s centralising tendencies are mostly very welcome. In 2017 Mr Modi introduced a national goods-and-services tax (“one nation, one tax”, better known as gst) seeking to deepen the country’s common market. It seems to be paying off. Between 2017-18 and 2020-21 the value of interstate trade increased by 44%, more than double the growth in gdp during the same period, according to a study in the Indian Public Policy Review, a journal. The paper’s authors attribute the increase to the introduction of gst and greater economic integration.

Moreover, the government is furiously building highways, commissioning new airports and launching zippy train services to knit Indians closer. The roll-out, over the past decade, of a national digital identity system and of digital payments has assuaged problems that sometimes caused headaches for Indians who travelled outside their own regions. It is getting easier to build businesses that span the country.

20230916_ASM929.png
image: the economist
It is plainly in India’s interests to forge a more sophisticated single market. Yet the government’s strident “one nation” rhetoric is causing some other ties to fray. The chief divide in India is between the industrialised, richer south, and the agrarian, impoverished north. The south is made up of five states: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana (see map). The north is home to two of the poorest ones, Uttar Pradesh (up) and Bihar. The south is richer, safer, healthier, better educated, and less awful to women and Dalits than the north (see chart). Bihar and up occupy the last and second-last positions when India’s states are ranked according to their scores on the human development index, a measure of well-being.


At the time of the last census in 2011 up and Bihar had 25% of India’s population, to the south’s 21%. The gap has grown. The latest official estimates suggest that in 2022 up and Bihar had 26% of India’s people, while the south’s share had declined to 19.5%. Their economies have also diverged. gdp per capita in the south is 4.2 times greater than in up and Bihar, up from 3.3 in 2011-12. The southern states contribute a quarter of India’s corporate- and income-tax revenues, compared with just 3% for up and Bihar. When companies such as Apple open new factories in India they head straight to the south, home to skilled workers and industry clusters.

Southern alarm bells​

Politically, too, the north and south are different countries. No state in the south is ruled by a bjp government, which is seen as a party of the Hindi-speaking north. Karnataka, the only southern state where the bjp had made inroads, voted out Mr Modi’s party in elections earlier this year.

20230916_EPC550.png
image: the economist
Regional differences are now causing tensions on three fronts: cultural, fiscal and political. Start with culture. The south has long resented what it sees as the imposition of values and language from the north. In 2019 Amit Shah, India’s home minister, tweeted that “if one language can do the work of uniting the country, then it is the most spoken language, Hindi.” In response protests broke out across the south, and even the bjp’s allies in the region distanced themselves from his comments. It is not just about words, explains R. Srinivasan of the Tamil Nadu state planning commission. Southern defenders of language also believe they are protecting a broader political identity, one that supports social justice, gender equality and emancipation from caste prejudice.

Complaints about India’s fiscal compact are growing, too. Though the central government rakes in revenue, states do much of the spending, particularly in crucial spheres such as education, health and welfare. The introduction of the gst weakened states’ revenue-raising powers. In 2021-22, spending by states accounted for 64% of public expenditure, but they raised only 38% of revenues. As a result, states are now more dependent than ever on transfers from the centre. How much they get is decided every five years by the Finance Commission, a constitutional body.

What each state receives varies depending on measures such as its population and level of development. As a result, southern states receive far less from the centre than they contribute. Redistribution across states is a feature of any federal system, a moral duty and, in India, a constitutional obligation. But it is becoming more controversial as state economies diverge. Concerns will probably redouble later this year, when the next finance commission starts working out how it will share revenues for the period 2027-32.


The third and potentially most dangerous set of tensions relates to political representation. The constitution requires that seats in Parliament be allocated according to population, with a roughly equal number of voters in each constituency and redistricting carried out after every census. But in 1976 the Congress government froze India’s electoral boundaries for 25 years to avoid penalising states that succeeded with family-planning policies. In 2002 a bjp government extended the moratorium until 2026. The south’s share of India’s population has since dropped by five percentage points, while that of up and Bihar has grown by three points.

The result is a misallocation of seats. Going by the 2011 census, the south should have 18 fewer mps in India’s 545-seat lower house than its current 129. up and Bihar ought to gain 14 over their existing 120, according to calculations by Milan Vaishnav and Jamie Hintson of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think-tank in Washington. On average, an mp in Uttar Pradesh represents nearly 3m people; his counterpart in Tamil Nadu a mere 1.8m.

The constitutional and moral arguments in favour of redistricting are plain. But the practical ramifications for southern states would be large. If the centre goes ahead with it, warns a prominent figure in the south, “that is the beginning of the end of India as a country…In my children’s lifetime this will not be one country anymore.” In May Mr Modi inaugurated a new Parliament building, capable of seating 888 lawmakers, lending credence to the idea that his party intends to reallocate seats while also expanding the house in order to soften the blow for states that lose out.

The idea of synchronising India’s many elections is also causing worry. The government’s critics insist that holding all polls at the same time would reinforce the advantages that national parties enjoy over regional ones (such as those that run most of the southern states). Regional parties, which have limited resources, would struggle to fight both national and state-level campaigns at the same time. The bjp counters that the current system, which sees a handful of states go to the polls every year, is broken. It paralyses policymaking, forces political parties into non-stop campaign mode and costs a fortune for parties and the exchequer. Having simultaneous elections would be cheaper and lead to better governance, say supporters.

Analyses of past elections have produced conflicting answers about whether harmonising polls will change how people vote. Any new policy would have to make provisions for state governments losing the support of their legislatures and collapsing in the middle of electoral cycles. And it is unclear whether Mr Modi would be able to push through the constitutional amendments this plan would require.

Since coming to power nine years ago, Mr Modi and his party have fulfilled many elements of their agenda, from turbocharging infrastructure upgrades and raising the country’s global profile to revoking the special constitutional status of the Muslim-majority state of Jammu & Kashmir and building a temple to the Lord Ram in the northern city of Ayodhya. The mystery session of Parliament next week may be about simultaneous elections (an old pledge), about changing India’s name (a newish obsession), or about something else entirely. Whatever the agenda, the great magician must be careful not to saw the nation in half.
 
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@suhasinih
Breakdown of how India spent RS.4,100 cr or nearly $500mn on the G20 summit and comparisons to past G20s


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Thanks to G20, the capital is all spruced up. But at what cost? This was India’s first ever G20. and we spent a whopping Rs. 4100 Crore. How was the money spent? Watch the breakdown here.

Money spent on New Delhi will be a boost to the local economy. Your politicians would rather pocket that money and spend it abroad.
 
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Money spent on New Delhi will be a boost to the local economy. Your politicians would rather pocket that money and spend it abroad.


More people will be left homeless and unemployed than before India decided to host the G20 Summit in Delhi.




Occasions like the G20 presidency are an opportunity to boost a nation’s image and instil a sense of pride among citizens. A country’s standing in the international community matters, as do attracting tourism, boosting investment, and strengthening international cooperation. Yet, the domestic manifestations of ‘global’ events cannot be overlooked, for they create both gainers and losers.

So, while basking in pride, it is crucial for India to identify who gained and lost from the G20 events. India must be especially careful, lest we take from the poor whatever little they have and give it to the rich.

The range of distress caused to the poor by the preparations for the G20 summit has been widely reported all year. Since January, over 3 lakh of the capital’s poor have been displaced, while other cities that hosted G20 events reported more evictions and displacements. The lives of India’s poor are jeopardised in the process of urban ‘beautification’ projects meant to please visiting foreign dignitaries and other attendees.

Eighty per cent of Delhi’s workforce is employed in the informal sector, and 15% of its population lives below the poverty line. The city and central administrations, which prepare the capital for summits, have repeatedly behaved with contempt towards its poorest residents. Walls were constructed to hide the city’s poverty and poor residents during the Commonwealth Games in 2020. And in 2023, slums and shelters for the homeless were razed to make way for dazzling optics for the G20 Summit.

The city allocated a expense budget—Rs 1,000 crore—to prepare for this Summit and related events, choosing to chase away the poor rather than work towards poverty reduction. Slum settlements and shelters for the homeless were pulled apart or concealed and demolished with no alternative arrangements made for residents. In effect, more people have been left homeless and unemployed than before India decided to host this event. Homes were declared encroachments and bulldozed, roadside vendors were evicted, and lakhs whose voices are never heard were further destabilised. The brilliant lights of the newly-decorated city darkened lives—and the coming effective ‘shutdown’ of a large and prominent section of the city will worsen the situation.

When a city as large and economically diverse as Delhi is brought to a halt, people are likely to face challenges, significantly more so its weaker and disadvantaged sections. Of the ways in which the poor are affected, the easiest to identify is the loss of daily wages, for instance of the hawkers in parts of the city that are being subjected to near-total lockdown during the forthcoming summit.

While the lockdown may officially apply to sections of the city, roads passing through this crucial area will out of bounds during the days of the G20 programmes. It is bound to affect thoroughfare, having a ripple effect across the city.

Most of Delhi’s poor residents—over 49 lakh people, according to a 2022 estimate—work in the informal sector. They rely on daily wages to support themselves and their families. Any disruption in normal economic activities results in a substantial loss of income, making it difficult for families to meet basic needs. Many poor might find it impossible to stock up on essential food items to provide them with two meals a day when they are forced not to work. This is what leads to food insecurity and hunger for those who live from day to day.

Further, road and office closures can disrupt access to essential services such as healthcare, education, and social support. Vulnerable populations may find it challenging to access medical care or emergency services during this period. Even a short shutdown can have lasting economic consequences for poor individuals and the local economy. Job losses and income reductions during a shutdown can create financial struggles that persist after normal economic activities resume. It’s a fact that today’s food is tomorrow’s work energy: a poor worker who goes hungry today will not have the energy to work tomorrow, perpetuating poverty beyond the days when work was unavailable, and pushing families deeper into poverty.

It is crucial that governments host international events while ensuring that the urban poor are not disproportionately affected by disruptions. Proactive and inclusive policies are needed, which the government can put in place for the welfare of all citizens even as it showcases a city on the global stage.

It is essential for local authorities, NGOs, and community organisations to implement support measures, including targeted financial assistance, food distribution, access to health care services, and housing support for vulnerable populations, especially if a ‘shutdown’ like in Delhi is being imposed.

Any disturbance to normal economic activity is sure to hurt people, and people living on the margins will be disproportionately affected. Since the burden of disturbances is not equal for all, is important to design them very carefully. If a glittering capital is a must during the G20 presidency, it is equally important to hear voices of distress echoing from behind the glamour. The welfare of people is the single-most important domestic policy and it cannot be subservient to any other outcome, howsoever important it might appear.

To sum up, the well-being of the urban poor during the coming ‘shutdown’—call it by whatever name—is of the utmost importance. Here are some strategies to consider:

  1. Provide ample notice to the affected sections about the event and its impacts on their lives, in terms of gains and losses. Engaging in community consultations to understand and address needs and concerns is a must.
  2. Targeted financial assistance programs to compensate for lost income during the shutdown is a must. This could include cash transfers or subsidies to help families cover basic expenses.
  3. Temporary food distribution centres in affected areas must ensure that vulnerable households have access to nutritious meals, so that they can rejoin the workforce immediately on resumption of normal economic activity.
  4. Healthcare services, especially emergency services, must remain operational during the event. Mobile medical clinics should be considered for the affected neighbourhoods.
  5. Preventing evictions should be the priority and housing support must be provided for people whose homes and shelters have been razed.
 
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Henry Kissinger once said, "It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal".

Ok? Does it matter because what @nahtanbob said was still right for the most part.

"Cut the crap - most countries will die to be allies of USA - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Canada"
 
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Putin will not attend G20 in India but set to visit China for Belt and Road forum




Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China for the Belt and Road Forum in October, Bloomberg reported while citing three people with knowledge of the matter. The visit would be Putin's first since an arrest warrant was issued against the Russian president for alleged war crimes, which the Kremlin has vehemently denied.

Preparations are now underway in Moscow for Putin's visit as Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly accepted Chinese leader Xi Jinping's invitation for the top flagship project of his presidency.


That's pretty much it. Vladimir Putin, in a telephonic conversation with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 28, cited his "busy schedule" and said that his main focus is still the "special military operation" in Ukraine for his inability to attend the G-20 summit in New Delhi in September.

Another facet of the discourse remains that New Delhi has vehemently opposed the G20 summit to emerge as a forum for focus on war in Ukraine, saying that it's a "geo-economic" platform and that the "(UN) Security Council" exists for conflict resolutions.

Putin in the New Delhi G-20 summit would have made him and by extension the war in Ukraine the top focus of a crucial multilateral meeting.

Secondly, Putin is reportedly willing to visit countries where his security service can completely guarantee his safety, and China is one of those places, according to two people cited by Bloomberg.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said in July that Putin planned to visit China for the forum, while Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said that China had invited the Russian leader as the "main guest" at the event, the state-run TASS news service reported in May.
 
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@RiazHaq

Brofessor sb,

Putin will not attend G20 in India but set to visit China for Belt and Road forum

When are Putler, Comrade Eleven and MBS visiting Pakiland?

Regards
 
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