THE CONTEXT: In June 2022, the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) was held in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria, Germany. India participated in the summit as an invited member. The discussion focused on addressing the war crisis in eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine, the Covid-19 crisis, climate change, infrastructure development and the food crisis. The detailed analysis of the development is as follows.
ABOUT THE SUMMIT
DATE OF SUMMIT 26- 28 June 2022
PARTICIPATION
• Apart from seven G- 7 members (UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy and France), This year, Germany invited the leaders of five other countries; these are
o Argentina
o India
o Indonesia
o Senegal
o South Africa
ISSUES DISCUSSED IN THE SUMMIT
• During the three-day meeting, the G7 leaders discussed a wide range of topics, including:
o Ukraine and cooperating on foreign policy
o addressing energy and food security
o investing in climate and health
o promoting partnerships for infrastructure and investment
o shaping the global economy
o advancing gender equality
o shaping international cooperation
OUTCOMES OF THE SUMMIT
UKRAINE
• The G7 leaders re-emphasized their condemnation of Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine.
• Financial support from the G7 in 2022 amounts to more than EUR 2.6 billion in humanitarian aid.
• G7 countries are ready to grant or have pledged and provided EUR 28 billion in budget aid.
• The G7 leaders are strongly committed to supporting Ukrainian reconstruction through an international reconstruction plan and conference.
• G7 countries will continue to impose severe and enduring sanctions on Russia to help bring an end to this war.
ENERGY AND FOOD SECURITY
• Russia’s war on Ukraine is dramatically worsening energy security and access to food globally.
• The G7 leaders committed to taking immediate action to secure the energy supply and reduce price surges.
• This includes exploring additional measures such as price caps.
• The G7 countries will also increase global food and nutrition security through the Global Alliance on Food Security.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
• The G7 leaders remain committed to minimizing the impact of the war globally, as well as its impact on their own economies and population.
• G7 countries will help to stabilize and transform the global economy while tackling rising costs of living for citizens.
CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
• The G7 leaders endorsed the goals of an open and cooperative International Climate Club. The Climate Club will be built around three pillars: advancing ambitious and transparent climate change mitigation policies toward climate neutrality; transforming industries to accelerate decarbonization; and boosting international ambition through partnerships and cooperation to facilitate climate action and promote just energy transition.
• They will work with partners towards establishing it by the end of 2022.
• The objectives are to:
drive urgent, ambitious and inclusive action to align with 1.5°C pathways
accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement
• The G7 leaders committed to:
a highly decarbonized road sector by 2030
a fully or predominantly decarbonized power sector by 2035
prioritizing the acceleration of the phase-out of domestic unabated coal power use.
INVESTMENT IN A BETTER FUTURE
• The G7 leaders reviewed the progress of the G7 Partnership for Infrastructure and Investment.
• Through the partnership, they aim to mobilize USD 600 billion over the next five years to narrow the global investment gap.
• The G7 leaders agreed to step up their cooperation globally. Building on their existing partnership with South Africa, they will work towards new Just Energy Transition Partnerships with:
Indonesia
India
Senegal
Vietnam
HEALTH
• On COVID-19, the G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to equitable global access to and delivery of safe, effective and affordable:
vaccines
therapeutics
diagnostics
other essential medical goods
DEMOCRATIC VALUES
• The G7 leaders will also cooperate with civil society and partners to:
strengthen the resilience of our societies
promote human rights online and offline
address disinformation
achieve gender equality
AN ANALYSIS OF THE OUTCOMES
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND CONFLICT
• Global Alliance for Food Security is a good step, but nutrition needs more attention.
• The Alliance should be engaged with governments, local farmers, smallholders, and social actors to develop and strengthen local food chains –and boost long-term food security, sovereignty and resilience.
• Communities in the Horn of Africa are facing the threat of starvation following four consecutive failed rainy seasons in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years.
• The March-May 2022 rainy season is likely the driest on record.
• Only USD 4.5 billion for global food security this year, while World Food Programme (WFP) needs USD 14 billion this year to tackle hunger.
OPEN SOCIETIES
• The G7 leaders’ special statement on resilient democracies and commitment to work with civil society and other partners is an improvement on the 2021 open societies statement because:
It has increased the prominence of civic space in the statement, and there is now more detail.
There is now a commitment to “advancing programmes for the protection of human rights defenders and all those exposing corruption”, which we can use to hold G7 leaders accountable.
There is a commitment to “speaking out against threats to civic space, and respecting freedom of association and peaceful assembly.”
• But a special task force to strengthen and expand protection mechanisms for civil society organizations and activists under threat that was discussed in the previous meeting was not discussed this year.
ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND TRANSFORMATION
To address the problem of unsustainable debt levels, the G20 reached an agreement in November 2020 on a Common Framework for Debt Treatments which aimed to deal with insolvency and protracted liquidity problems in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)-eligible countries by providing debt relief but the initiative facing its implementation issues and struggling to maintain its credibility.
• While the G7 recognizes urgency “to improve multilateral frameworks for debt restructuring and to address debt vulnerabilities”, they failed to admit the weaknesses of the existing G20 Common Framework and the need for a reform of international debt architecture, which includes cancelling unsustainable debt for the countries that need it the most and
• In the 47th G-7 Summit in 2021, the group made an agreement to plug the cross-border tax loopholes used by the giant multinational companies (MNCs) to evade taxes has immense potential to reform and revolutionize
• the global tax system.
• The reform blueprint was based on two pillars:
o to distribute the profits equitably among countries where these are generated, enabling them to tax such profits
o by the adoption of a minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15 per cent globally.
• Establishing effective engagement with private creditors and China.
• Similarly, recognition of the weaknesses and limitations of the global tax deal reached in 2021, especially for the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), was absent.
• Lots of attention was given to gender equality, both in terms of addressing and mainstreaming it, and there was even the suggestion of developing “feminist development, foreign and trade policies.”
CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
• G7 leaders did not take any concrete steps forward on climate and environmental justice. They instead backtracked on their commitment to stop funding fossil fuels overseas. The G7 watered down the COP26 commitment to end new direct public support for fossil fuels by the end of 2022.
• No progress was made on increasing support for those on the frontline of the climate crisis, with the $100bn-a-year climate finance commitment (to help poorer countries cut carbon emissions and cope with global warming, but only two nations offered firm promises of more cash) reiterated but not met two years after failing to meet the delivery deadline.
• No concrete commitments were made to provide finance to address loss and damage, the missing component of climate finance, only empty words about scaling up climate and disaster risk finance and insurance.
GLOBAL HEALTH AND CARE
• Commitment to the collective support of USD 79 million for the Childcare Incentive Fund is a welcome step in the right direction, but the care economy should be seen beyond childcare and be part of adequately funded (2% of GDP) social protection.
• Did not commit to the critical TRIPS waiver, which would relax intellectual property rules and share Covid-19-related tech and know-how with Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs), allowing them to produce and use Covid-19 vaccines.
• Made a commitment to Universal Health Care by 2030, stepping up their efforts in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response under the One Health approach.
• Committed to supporting a successful Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) with the goal of ending the three diseases, though it was not backed up with funding. In their final declaration, the G7 countries reaffirmed their support for international organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
INDIA IN THE SUMMIT
Indian PM participated in the summit and discussed issues like energy, food security, counterterrorism, environment and democracy with the leaders of the powerful bloc and its partner countries.
The highlights of PM’s speech:
• Urged the countries to invest in clean energy and said access to energy should not be a privilege of the rich and the poor also should have an equal right to energy.
• Women’s rights and their leading role in development.
• On the issue of global food security by, saying that Millets can make a valuable contribution to ensuring food security in the world. Apart from it, PM Modi highlighted the role of Indian agriculture in global food security.
• Apart from it, PM lauded Indian agricultural manpower and how it can be instrumental in ensuring food security.
• The result of this can be seen as the first announcement made was a 600-billion-dollar infrastructure initiative to help developing countries tackle climate change. The initiative, namely, Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, is seen as the West’s response to China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Importance of meeting for India
The meeting was held at a time when the interesting turn of events in world politics, such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, growing Chinese threat in the Indo-Pacific, the revival of the global economy post-pandemic, energy transition and others are going on, and somehow, India is at the centre of it all. So, the invitation for the meeting to India shows that the canvas of India’s foreign policy is increasing day by day and day, and India has become an important ally for the West in the developing world.
WHAT DID INDIA GET FROM THE SUMMIT?
SERVES INDIA’S LARGER GEOPOLITICAL CALCULUS
• India’s relations with the West matter.
• India shares a large and conflicted border with China and is in the direct line of fire of China’s expansionist ambitions, the rise of terrorism with the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, walking thin rope in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, an economically ailing Sri Lanka in its backyard, India does not have it easy.
• Therefore, being part of plurilateral platforms like these serves India’s larger geopolitical calculus.
OPPORTUNITY FOR BOTH WEST AND INDIA
• the G-7 Summit presents an opportunity for both the West and India to forge and strengthen their existing partnerships while also mindfully tackling the ongoing geopolitical crisis across the globe.
• Also, the summit has further established the “indispensability of India in any noticeable North, South, or North-South platforms when it comes to searching for solutions and their implementation”.
• The West knows that India has risen and is at the helm of global politics and, therefore, cannot be ignored at the table.
INDIA IS VERY CLEAR ABOUT SAVING ITS INTERESTS
• India is continuing to maintain its strategic autonomy as well as focus on serving its own economic and geopolitical interests along with regional prosperity.
• The Global politics of the 21st Century is centred around the Indo-Pacific, and India is at the centre of it the road to a stable, peaceful, resilient geopolitical environment goes via India.
HOW IS THE CANVAS OF INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICY INCREASING?
INVITATION TO THE SUMMIT
• It is clear that despite India’s reluctance to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine and differing stances with the West, India was invited (not exclusive, though) as a partner country to the summit.
PARTICIPATED AS AN IMPORTANT ALLY IN INDO-PACIFIC
• India’s growing influence in global affairs is unquestionable. In the new Indo-Pacific construct and amidst China’s muscle-flexing, India is critical. Back in 2017, the then US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, referred to India as the “Western beacon” of the Indo-Pacific.
IMPORTANT MEMBER OF DIFFERENT GROUPINGS
• India’s growing stature and importance in world affairs are widely recognized. India’s diplomacy has led the country to emerge as a global influencer through active participation in I2U2, G-20, BRICS, QUAD, SCO, SAARC, and now G-7.
INDIA’S NARRATIVES ARE MAKING IT A GLOBAL FORCE IN WORLD FORUM
• It can be seen how India can bring a “fresh perspective on the narrative of the global north on climate change, carbon pricing, pandemic prevention, issues related to Intellectual Property, global food security and public stock holdings as well as promotion of shared values of democracy, and the rule of law”.
PGII vs. BRI
• The G 7 leaders launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), a joint initiative to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries. The project, launched on June 27, is being seen as the bloc’s counter to China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative.
• However, the stated purpose of both the PGII and the BRI is to help secure funding for countries to build critical infrastructure such as roads, ports, bridges, communication setups, etc., to enhance global trade and cooperation.
• China began the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 under President Xi Jinping. It aims to revive the ancient trade routes crossing to and from China–from Rome in Europe to East Asia.
• However, China was criticized in the West and by some other countries for providing unsustainable debts to countries that will be unable to repay them.
The comparison of BRI and PGII
BRI
• 1.2 to 1.3 trillion-dollar project
• State-funded.
• Projects by extending large, low-interest loans to countries.
• The Belt and Road project started to revive connectivity, trade, and infrastructure along what was China’s ancient Silk Road.
• The project initially aimed to strengthen connectivity with Southeast Asia but later expanded to South and Central Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America
• the BRI has faced criticism for making countries sign confidential tenders for extending massive loans, leaving countries indebted to China.
PGII
• 600 billion project.
• Funded through private investors
• Build projects through grants and investments.
• The PGII is a values-based plan to help underfunded low and middle-income countries meet their infrastructure needs. PGII has laid focus on climate action and clean energy,
• G7 leaders emphasized ‘transparency’ as the cornerstone of PGII projects.
IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC ROLE FOR INDIA IN PGII?
• The PGII will have four key priorities on infrastructure: climate and energy security, digital connectivity, health and health security, and gender equality and equity, all of which are priority areas for India as well.
• A specific plan for investment in an Agritech and Climate sustainability fund would invest in companies that increase food security and promote both climate resilience and climate adaptation in India, as well as improve the profitability and agricultural productivity of smallholder farms.
WHAT ARE THE CRITICISM OF INDIA’S STAND IN G-7?
India has become an important ally of the West in the Indo-pacific region, and its participation in the summit clears it, but mere attending a summit does not serve India’s interest, and the development will lead to India’s hostilities with all-weather competitor China. Moreover, India didn’t call for any improvement in the structuring of the group, India’s interests can be negatively impacted by the developments because:
• G 7 is essentially a “First World Elite Club” that hasn’t grown- nor has it revised its membership, given that not all of its members are among the world’s top economies anymore.
• The G-7 countries represent more than 50% of Global GDP and just 10% of the world population, showing how much is concentrated in the hands of a few.
• By cutting out Russia and China, the G-7 ensured the polarization of the world into the two blocs, even as ties between Russia and China got stronger.
• The fact that G-7 countries are also military partners means that the economic agenda of the grouping often takes a backseat over political issues- in the current scenario- over the Russia-Ukraine war and the tussle with China.
THE WAY FORWARD:
• The participation is g good opportunity for India to increase its foreign policy canvas but with an independent foreign policy.
• The formation of PGII is an opportunity for India to counter China’s presence in South Asia. India should use this opportunity to engage maximum developing countries.
• West is continuously supporting India to counter China in Indo-Pacific and now continuously inviting India into their elite club, so India should use this opportunity to call the reform in UNSC.
• The Indian government would do well to engage with the multilateral ecosystem to ensure that future multilateral rules do not disadvantage developing economies instead of outrightly rejecting them.
• India should focus on capacity building and timely resolution of disputes.
• India’s 2022-23 presidency of the G20 presents an opportunity for the country to articulate a forward-looking vision for fair and comprehensive foreign policy.
THE CONCLUSION: India’s engagement with the West is the opportunity for India to overcome the challenge that occurred after Covid-19. India’s participation in the summit is a good move by India to engage deeply with the West but India should be concerned with saving its interests. India’s focus should be to create a balance between the West and its all-weather friend Russia. Though mere participation can’t hurt India’s interest, India should avoid the criticism of Russia as it did in the recent past.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. Critically examine the outcomes of the 14th G-7 summit.
2. How far do you agree with the view that the G-7 Partnership for Infrastructure and Investment is an alternative to the OBOR of China?
3. “Without a stable neighbourhood, attempts to increase the foreign policy canvas by India will not elicit desired outcomes”. Illustrate and Comment.
Just add to your knowledge
• The Grougroup7 (G7) is an informal group of seven countries, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, the heads of which hold an annual summit with the European Union and other invitees.
• Together the member countries represent 40% of global GDP and 10% of the world’s population.
• The G7 draws its roots from a meeting between the current G7 members, excluding Canada, that took place in 1975. At the time, the global economy was in a state of recession due to the OPEC oil embargo.
• After this first summit, the countries agreed to meet annually, and a year later, Canada was invited into the group marking the official formation of the G7 as we know it.
• The President of the European Commission was asked to join the meetings in 1977, and following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and a subsequent thaw in relations between the East and West, Russia was also invited to join the group 1998.
• Thereafter the group was named the G8 until 2014, when Russia was expelled for its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
