1 00:00:02,033 --> 00:00:05,000 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This weekend's G20 Summit in New Delhi, India concluded with a new member the 2 00:00:07,366 --> 00:00:10,433 African Union, an ambitious new plan to create a railway from Europe through the Middle East to 3 00:00:12,433 --> 00:00:15,733 India, and an acknowledgement of the atrocities in Ukraine, but no mention of the aggressor. 4 00:00:17,700 --> 00:00:21,166 Russia and China signed off on this final agreement to come out of the summit, 5 00:00:21,166 --> 00:00:26,166 but Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were notably absent. 6 00:00:27,866 --> 00:00:30,533 Earlier today, I spoke with special correspondent Pavni Mittal, 7 00:00:30,533 --> 00:00:33,000 who is in New Delhi, covering the G20. 8 00:00:35,566 --> 00:00:39,066 So as I mentioned, there were some announcements about this summit. But on some of the key issues 9 00:00:41,066 --> 00:00:45,066 leading into the summit, it seems that there was not nearly as much progress made. 10 00:00:45,066 --> 00:00:49,166 PAVNI MITTAL: Because there was a lot of debate and discussion about what could actually be 11 00:00:49,166 --> 00:00:54,133 achieved at the G20 because he passed all those remember that these forums mostly to 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,533 build consensus, but follow through has been weak. So whether it is on issues like climate change, 13 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,366 or debt structuring, there was hope that leaders would come together and agree on those. 14 00:01:04,366 --> 00:01:07,066 But even though they have agreed on this, 15 00:01:07,066 --> 00:01:11,400 there's very little that countries can do to hold each other accountable. 16 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:16,400 Now, one of the biggest issues that have sort of dominated this forum has been the war in 17 00:01:18,933 --> 00:01:23,466 Ukraine. You had Western countries, particularly the G7 nations led by the United States and had 18 00:01:25,433 --> 00:01:29,600 been pushing for stronger language on the war and against Russia. But that was countered, 19 00:01:31,566 --> 00:01:36,233 of course, by Russia, supported very strongly by China. And then you had 20 00:01:36,233 --> 00:01:40,933 sort of a third block led by India, which has tried to play neutral ground. 21 00:01:40,933 --> 00:01:43,266 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So how does President Biden's 22 00:01:43,266 --> 00:01:46,700 administration rationalize or justify this statement, 23 00:01:46,700 --> 00:01:51,666 which I think by all accounts was weaker than they wished had come out of the summit? 24 00:01:51,666 --> 00:01:56,633 PAVNI MITTAL: Well, officially, the White House has said that this builds 25 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,700 on what the U.S. and other G7 nations and basically most other Western nations have 26 00:02:03,133 --> 00:02:05,500 said about war, but a lot of times you know, these 27 00:02:07,933 --> 00:02:11,033 declarations and this communicate often mirrors the language preferred by the host nation. 28 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:18,500 And in that way, this is a reflection of what India stand (ph) has been that is the cultural 29 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,666 piece, but also not directly criticize Russia. Ukraine's Foreign Minister actually to do social 30 00:02:26,666 --> 00:02:31,400 media and said, quote, this has nothing to be proud of criticizing this joint declaration. 31 00:02:33,233 --> 00:02:35,333 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So on one of the more substantive announcements 32 00:02:35,333 --> 00:02:39,333 there was this rail and shipping corridor announced linking Europe, 33 00:02:39,333 --> 00:02:43,366 the Middle East and India. Can you tell us a little bit more about that announcement? 34 00:02:43,366 --> 00:02:48,366 PAVNI MITTAL: So for India, this was our chance to sort of advance issues facing 35 00:02:50,833 --> 00:02:54,433 the global south and infrastructure project and debt restructuring were very much top agenda. 36 00:02:56,500 --> 00:03:00,400 Now this is being seen as a counter to China. China's Belt and Road Initiative, which helped 37 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,000 China expand its influence geopolitically and financially across the global south. 38 00:03:11,333 --> 00:03:13,600 And what was interesting about this announcement, 39 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,933 William, was the fact that President Biden was very much there during the 40 00:03:17,933 --> 00:03:22,933 announcement very much that supporting the countries because symbolically for the U.S., 41 00:03:25,333 --> 00:03:28,100 this was a chance to reestablish its relationship with Asia Pacific nations and to counter China. 42 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:35,400 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Notably, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin 43 00:03:37,966 --> 00:03:40,500 were not present for this summit. Do you have any sense of how their absence affected negotiations? 44 00:03:42,566 --> 00:03:47,133 PAVNI MITTAL: This actually symbolically gave the U.S. a much bigger stage. You know, 45 00:03:49,133 --> 00:03:52,633 President Biden was there, making sure that everybody noticed that the U.S. was there to 46 00:03:55,166 --> 00:04:00,166 meet with adversities and partners in short, the U.S. is commitment to the Asia Pacific region. 47 00:04:02,933 --> 00:04:07,933 So in many ways, this was a bigger platform for the United States and sort of made sure 48 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,700 that there was no sort of press around President Xi or President Putin, who by 49 00:04:16,633 --> 00:04:19,900 the way, would have demanded a lot of interest had there been present. 50 00:04:19,900 --> 00:04:22,300 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 51 00:04:22,300 --> 00:04:26,633 this was obviously a means to showcase his leadership internationally, 52 00:04:26,633 --> 00:04:31,633 but also domestically. How was his stewardship of the summit received? 53 00:04:33,466 --> 00:04:37,000 PAVNI MITTAL: This was a chance for India to really capitalize on the exelente (ph) 54 00:04:38,433 --> 00:04:40,500 has had internationally becoming the most populous 55 00:04:40,500 --> 00:04:45,500 nation overtaking the U.K. to becoming the fifth largest economy landing on the moon. 56 00:04:48,066 --> 00:04:50,833 But the way some of the sort of the glitz and the glamour and show around G20 and the presidency, 57 00:04:55,666 --> 00:05:00,500 that has been criticized and opposition parties have pointed out that the government 58 00:05:00,500 --> 00:05:04,233 has tried to conflate India success with Prime Minister Modi's success. 59 00:05:04,233 --> 00:05:07,366 I mean, you look at the G20 logo, it's the lotus, 60 00:05:07,366 --> 00:05:12,366 that is the symbol of his political party. You cannot walk 100 meters and jelly without 61 00:05:14,266 --> 00:05:18,733 seeing a G20 poster with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face on it. And so people 62 00:05:20,733 --> 00:05:24,833 are saying this is like an ad campaign months ahead of the general election. 63 00:05:24,833 --> 00:05:29,833 And then there's also criticism, William, about the security arrangements, you know, 64 00:05:31,866 --> 00:05:35,633 parts of New Delhi, particularly the main district in which the summit was held was sort of shut 65 00:05:37,566 --> 00:05:41,933 down. So no traffic, no shops, no restaurants, but for millions of people in the city who 66 00:05:43,866 --> 00:05:48,633 only get to eat if they work that day. They are daily wage earners. So they 67 00:05:48,633 --> 00:05:53,633 are hawkers. They drive people's cars. They deliver food. This was loss of livelihood. 68 00:05:56,066 --> 00:05:57,633 WILLAM BRANGHAM: All right, special correspondent Pavni Mittal, thank you so much for being here. 69 00:05:57,633 --> 00:05:58,766 PAVNI MITTAL: Thanks for having me.