| Sreemoy Talukdar brings you the essential cheat sheet on foreign affairs covering India and the world |  | | G20 summit in Indonesia and India's upcoming presidency forms the bulk of our coverage this week. The Bali event featured a stunning confrontation between Xi Jinping and Justin Trudeau on the sidelines (picture above). We also track the missile incident in Poland that sparked World War 3 speculation and APEC meet in Bangkok. | | TOP FIVE NEWS UPDATES | | India plays a big role in drafting joint communique as Bali G20 summit draws to a close | | As the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, came to a close Wednesday, Bloomberg reports: "The meeting hosted by Indonesia began shortly after US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first in-person meeting as leaders and agreed to resume cooperation in key areas. It ended with a joint declaration in which most members 'strongly condemned' Vladimir Putin's invasion." The declaration eventually adopted deplored Russia's aggression in Ukraine "in the strongest terms" and demanded its unconditional withdrawal. They also recognised that while most members condemned the war in Ukraine, "there were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions". Those "other views" meant from Moscow that took umbrage the wording and at one point it seemed that negotiations would break down and there won't be any joint statement at the end of the summit. That members eventually agreed on a joint statement — the Bali Declaration — owed in no small measure to the role played by India. The fourth paragraph of the declaration reads: "The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital. Today's era must not be of war." Financial Times observes that the "Indian delegation played a big role in achieving consensus among member states over the wording that criticised the Russian invasion, according to three officials with knowledge of the negotiations. The language of the draft statement echoed Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's words to Putin in September by saying 'now is not the time for war'." The gathering of world's most powerful leaders produced several bilaterrals on the sidelines. Chief among those was US p[resident Joe Biden's meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping — the first time two leaders have met in person since Biden moved into Oval Office. In the three-hour meeting, Biden "objected directly to China's 'coercive and increasingly aggressive actions' toward Taiwan" while Xi said "the Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations." | | As India takes over presidency of G20, Modi vows to prioritize 'women-led development' agenda | | On Wednesday, at the conclusion of the G20 summit, Indonesian president Joko Widodo officially handed over the G20 presidency to India. For the event next year, host India "plans to fly diplomats from all missions of G20 countries, invitees and United Nations agencies, for a special briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the G20 Secretariat to a resort in the Andaman Islands," reports The Hindu. The report adds, "the 'off-site' for about 30-40 diplomats would take place at the Havelock Islands Taj Exotica hotel on November 25-27, where G20 'Sherpa' Amitabh Kant, 'Sous Sherpa' Abhay Thakur, and the G20 National Coordinator, former Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla, will give them a preview of India's plans for the next year of its Presidency." A release by Union ministry of tourism on Friday says G20 meetings are proposed to be held in several states of North East including Aizawl in Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier, at the closing ceremony in Bali, Modi said "India's G20 presidency will be 'inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented'," while accepting the ceremonial gavel from Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a handover on Wednesday. The prime minister held several bilateral meetings on sidelines including US president Joe Biden, French president Emmanuel Macron, British PM Rishi Sunak, among others. He was also seen sharing an impromptu handshake with Chinese president Xi Jinping though there was no separate meeting between the two. Modi said: "India is taking charge of the G20 at a time when the world is simultaneously grappling with geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown, rising food and energy prices, and the long-term ill-effects of the pandemic". He said that India would give priority to "women-led development" in its G20 agenda, which would be driven by the recently unveiled theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future", reports The Hindu. | | Xi gives Trudeau a dressing down on the sidelines in Bali for 'leaking' details of meeting to press | | An extraordinary scene unfolded on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on Wednesday when Chinese president Xi Jinping was captured by the camera of a Canadian broadcaster confronting Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and telling him off (via a translator) for "leaking details" of their bilateral discussion to the press. "Everything we discussed was leaked to the newspapers. That's not appropriate, and that's not the way our conversation was conducted, right?" Xi told Trudeau through a translator. "If you are being sincere, we must communicate with mutual respect." "If not, I'm not so sure how it will turn out," Xi added, in a line the translator didn't say to Trudeau. The Canadian PM responded: "In Canada, we believe in free and open and frank dialogue, and that is what we will continue to have. We will continue to look to work constructively together, but there will be things we will disagree on." Xi was dismissive, saying: "Let's create the conditions first." He then shook the Canadian prime minister's hand and turned away, reports Bloomberg. A day later on Thursday, Chinese spokesperson Mao Ning accused Canada of acting in a "condescending manner". Mao denied China had ever interfered in the internal affairs of other nations and said Canada was responsible for the downturn in ties. "Canada should take concrete actions to create conditions for the improvement of China-Canada relations," she said at a daily briefing. The conversation was "quite normal and should not be interpreted as President Xi criticizing or blaming anyone." | | Ukrainian missile lands in Poland, misleading report sets world afire over WW3 speculation | | On November 15, American news agency Associated Press sent a two-line news alert that took the world by storm. "A senior U.S. intelligence official says Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people." A Russian attack on a NATO member nation would trigger Article 5 of the NATO charter that states that "an armed attack against one or more of [the members] in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all" and that force can be used in response. Jumping into the fray, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, without producing evidence, claimed Tuesday that Russian missiles had hit Poland, a NATO country, in what he called a "significant escalation" of the conflict and urged world leaders to act. In Washington, the Pentagon and the US State Department said they could not confirm Russian missiles had landed on Polish territory but were investigating. By the time AP withdrew the "erroneous" news report, the world had become feverish with discussion over an impending World War 3. It later turned out that the missile that fell into Poland, killing two people, came from Ukraine. A November 17 AP report said: "NATO member Poland and the head of the military alliance both said Wednesday that a missile strike in Polish farmland that killed two people appeared to be unintentional and was probably launched by air defenses in neighboring Ukraine. Russia had been bombarding Ukraine at the time in an attack that savaged its power grid. "Ukraine's defense was launching their missiles in various directions, and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory," said Polish President Andrzej Duda. "There is nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland." Washington Post cited data from US intelligence community to report that "Tuesday's explosions were from one or possibly two Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missiles that went off course, said a person familiar with the intelligence, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters." | | Xi Jinping takes centrestage at APEC summit as Biden gives it a miss | | Close on the heels of G20 summit in Bali, world leaders gathered in Bangkok for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit. Biden gave it a miss, sending veep Kamala Harris instead. India is not a member of the grouping. CNN reports, "Chinese leader Xi Jinping has stressed the need to reject confrontation in Asia, warning against the risk of cold war tensions, as leaders gather for the last of three world summits hosted in the region this month. Xi began the APEC leaders' summit by staking out his wish for China to be viewed as a driver of regional unity in a written speech released ahead of Friday's opening day – which also appeared to make veiled jabs at the United States. The Asia-Pacific region is "no one's backyard" and should not become "an arena for big power contest," Xi said in the statement, in which he also decried "any attempt to politicize and weaponize economic and trade relations." APEC is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to promote economic integration. As a grouping, it makes up 38% of the global population, 62% of GDP and 48% of trade. APEC's 21 members are: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Several leaders gathered for the APEC summit broke away from their meeting on Friday to condemn North Korea after it test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, reports Reuters. US vice president Harris called an emergency gathering of leaders from Australia, Japan, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand on the sidelines after North Korea carried out the missile test just an hour before its inauguration. | | | | | | | | | | TOP ANALYSES OF THE WEEK | | If China invades Taiwan, what would India do? | | If China invaded Taiwan, what would India do? asks Bloomberg columnist Hal Brands. | | G20 summit shows India's arrival on world stage | | G20 summit announced India's arrival on global stage but the path ahead calls for more diplomatic dexterity and relentless focus, we argue in Firstpost. | | 20th party congress marks a watershed moment | | The 20th Party Congress marks a watershed in China's contemporary political history and the beginning of a new phase, writes Jayadeva Ranade, president of Centre for China Analysis and Strategy in The Tribune. | | Xi's ideological blueprint for China is now evident | | Xi's China is assertive. He is less subtle than his predecessors, and his ideological blueprint for the future is now hiding in plain sight, writes former Australian PM Kevin Rudd in Foreign Affairs. | | Xi is not going to attack Taiwan anytime soon | | Xi Jinping is not looking to go to war over Taiwan anytime soon, argues Derek Grossman of Rand Corp in Nikkei Asia. | | India shouldn't bite the Ukraine mediation apple | | Former Indian diplomat Vivek Katju writes in The Hindu that if India undertakes mediation effort in Ukraine war in the wake of the West's visible encouragement, those efforts may not only fail but also expose the true extent of India's global influence. | | Iran's mass protests are affecting lives in Pakistan | | Baloch in Pakistan are watching the crackdown on their sisters across the border in Iran with dismay, writes Mariyam Suleman Anees in The Diplomat. | | Putin has further marginalized Russia in Asia | | Putin's Ukraine misadventure will undermine Moscow's Asian ambitions, writes Asia Society Policy Institute senior fellow C Raja Mohan in Indian Express. | | Japan should become a member of AUKUS | | Michael Auslin, a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, argues in Foreign Policy that Japan should join AUKUS because it has become an indispensable security actor in the Indo-Pacific. | | Why China is closely watching the outcome of elections in Nepal | | Nepal's coming elections are of great interest to China, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) in South Asia Monitor. | | PODCAST | | Role of US in Indo-Pacific | | We recommend this edition of Sinica podcast which is a representation of a keynote address given by Evan Feigenbaum of Carnegie Endowment, at the recent East Asia Strategy Forum held in in Ottawa, Canada. Host Kaiser Kuo also offers his quick take on the three-hour meeting between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia. | | | | Copyright © 2022.Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. | |
