The heads of state and government of the G20 of the main industrialized and emerging countries meet this Saturday and Sunday in the Indian capital, New Delhi. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is also expected. In addition to Germany, France and the United States, the group also includes Russia and China.
Asked whether an enlargement of the G7 would devalue the format of the G20 bringing together the main industrialized and emerging countries from all continents, Heusgen recalled that the G20 cycle was created in relation to the global financial crisis of 2008/2009. “Represented are countries that are important for the economic and financial development of the whole world. But not all of them are democracies. »
Heusgen said that even with the G20, thought needs to be given to whether and how to expand it if necessary. “I think the idea, also championed by Chancellor Scholz, of expanding the G20 to include the African Union is a good idea.”
China and India, important players
Heusgen was cautious about Chinese state and party leader Xi Jinping’s decision not to attend the G20 summit in India. “Of course, it’s not good that the Chinese president is not coming,” he said. “However, we also know about the tensions between China and India, especially in the border regions.” These tensions may have played a role in the cancellation.
India is overtaking China as the most populous country and has gained great confidence in it under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Heusgen said. “Maybe President Xi wanted to spit Modi into the summit soup with his rejection,” he added. The rejection is clear: “The unity of the Brics countries recently celebrated in South Africa is only very superficial”.
Heusgen, 68, was foreign and security policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). From 2017 to June 2021 he worked as Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations in New York.
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