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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This weekend's
G20 Summit in New Delhi, India
concluded with a new member the

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African Union, an ambitious
new plan to create a
railway from Europe
through the Middle East to

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India, and an acknowledgement
of the atrocities in Ukraine,
but no mention of the aggressor.

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Russia and China signed
off on this final agreement
to come out of the summit,

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but Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Chinese President Xi
Jinping were notably absent.

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Earlier today, I
spoke with special
correspondent Pavni Mittal,

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who is in New Delhi,
covering the G20.

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So as I mentioned, there
were some announcements
about this summit. But
on some of the key issues

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leading into the summit,
it seems that there was not
nearly as much progress made.

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PAVNI MITTAL: Because there was
a lot of debate and discussion
about what could actually be

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achieved at the G20 because
he passed all those remember
that these forums mostly to

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build consensus, but
follow through has been
weak. So whether it is on
issues like climate change,

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or debt structuring, there was
hope that leaders would come
together and agree on those.

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But even though they
have agreed on this,

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there's very little that
countries can do to hold
each other accountable.

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Now, one of the biggest issues
that have sort of dominated
this forum has been the war in

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Ukraine. You had Western
countries, particularly
the G7 nations led by
the United States and had

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been pushing for stronger
language on the war and against
Russia. But that was countered,

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of course, by Russia,
supported very strongly
by China. And then you had

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sort of a third block led
by India, which has tried
to play neutral ground.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So how
does President Biden's

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administration rationalize
or justify this statement,

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which I think by all accounts
was weaker than they wished
had come out of the summit?

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PAVNI MITTAL: Well,
officially, the White House
has said that this builds

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on what the U.S. and other
G7 nations and basically most
other Western nations have

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said about war, but a lot
of times you know, these

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declarations and this
communicate often mirrors
the language preferred
by the host nation.

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And in that way, this
is a reflection of what
India stand (ph) has
been that is the cultural

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piece, but also not
directly criticize Russia.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister
actually to do social

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media and said, quote,
this has nothing to be
proud of criticizing
this joint declaration.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So
on one of the more
substantive announcements

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there was this rail
and shipping corridor
announced linking Europe,

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the Middle East and India.
Can you tell us a little bit
more about that announcement?

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PAVNI MITTAL: So for India,
this was our chance to sort
of advance issues facing

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the global south and
infrastructure project
and debt restructuring
were very much top agenda.

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Now this is being seen
as a counter to China.
China's Belt and Road
Initiative, which helped

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China expand its influence
geopolitically and financially
across the global south.

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And what was interesting
about this announcement,

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William, was the fact
that President Biden was
very much there during the

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announcement very much that
supporting the countries because
symbolically for the U.S.,

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this was a chance to
reestablish its relationship
with Asia Pacific nations
and to counter China.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Notably,
Chinese President Xi Jinping and
Russian President Vladimir Putin

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were not present for this
summit. Do you have any
sense of how their absence
affected negotiations?

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PAVNI MITTAL: This actually
symbolically gave the U.S. a
much bigger stage. You know,

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President Biden was
there, making sure that
everybody noticed that
the U.S. was there to

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meet with adversities
and partners in short,
the U.S. is commitment to
the Asia Pacific region.

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So in many ways, this was a
bigger platform for the United
States and sort of made sure

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that there was no sort of
press around President Xi
or President Putin, who by

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the way, would have
demanded a lot of interest
had there been present.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

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this was obviously a
means to showcase his
leadership internationally,

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but also domestically.
How was his stewardship
of the summit received?

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PAVNI MITTAL: This was a
chance for India to really
capitalize on the exelente (ph)

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has had internationally
becoming the most populous

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nation overtaking the U.K.
to becoming the fifth largest
economy landing on the moon.

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But the way some of the
sort of the glitz and the
glamour and show around
G20 and the presidency,

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that has been criticized
and opposition parties have
pointed out that the government

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has tried to conflate
India success with Prime
Minister Modi's success.

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I mean, you look at the
G20 logo, it's the lotus,

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that is the symbol of his
political party. You cannot walk
100 meters and jelly without

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seeing a G20 poster with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
face on it. And so people

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are saying this is like an
ad campaign months ahead
of the general election.

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And then there's also criticism,
William, about the security
arrangements, you know,

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parts of New Delhi, particularly
the main district in which the
summit was held was sort of shut

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down. So no traffic, no shops,
no restaurants, but for millions
of people in the city who

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only get to eat if they
work that day. They are
daily wage earners. So they

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are hawkers. They drive people's
cars. They deliver food.
This was loss of livelihood.

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WILLAM BRANGHAM: All right,
special correspondent
Pavni Mittal, thank you
so much for being here.

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PAVNI MITTAL: Thanks
for having me.