The countries at the economic meeting also agree on how to talk about Russia’s war in Ukraine, but they do so in softer terms.
NEW DELHI, INDIA — On Saturday afternoon, President Biden and a number of other world leaders announced plans for a new rail and shipping corridor that would connect India and Europe through the Middle East. This is an ambitious plan that aims to connect a dangerous area and compete with China’s support of huge infrastructure projects around the world for years.
The announcement made a preliminary agreement between the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the European Union official. It came as the leaders of the world’s largest economies tried to find common ground on a number of difficult issues.
By mid-afternoon, the leaders here had agreed on a 37-page, 83-point joint statement. Several of the points were about Russia’s war in Ukraine. Some people thought that since Russia is a member of the G-20 and there was a lot of talk about the war, it would be hard to get such a statement. But they came up with text that said “all states must not use or threaten to use force to gain territory” and “nuclear weapons cannot be used or threatened to be used.” The wording wasn’t as harsh as it was at last year’s meeting, and Russia wasn’t named as the war’s main attacker.
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The leaders did talk about the “suffering and additional bad effects of the war in Ukraine” on a number of things, such as the world’s food supply and energy security. But in diplomatic terms, the statement went on to say, “There were different views and assessments of the situation.”
In a Facebook post, Oleg Nikolenko, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, said that the G-20 has “nothing to be proud of” when it comes to how it talks about Russian attacks in Ukraine. He also suggested changes to how the parts about Ukraine should have been written.
In another part of the statement, it was made official that the United States would host the G-20 in 2026. This was done in spite of some late resistance from China.
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said right after the deal was made, “This is a big step forward for India’s chairmanship and a vote of confidence that the G-20 can work together to deal with a wide range of urgent issues and also hard issues that have really divided some members from others, like Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine.”
“I have good news to share. “Thanks to the hard work of our team, we’ve come to an agreement on the G-20 declaration,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hosting the meeting, said in Hindi. The G-20 leaders applauded for a long time.
Biden went to the meeting to try to show that the G-20 is still important even though Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent delegates instead of themselves because of worries over the war in Ukraine.
When asked if Xi’s absence hurt the meeting, Biden said, “It would be nice to have him here, but the summit is going well even without him.”
Biden and other leaders made the announcement about the train route not long after the statement was made.
“This is a very big deal,” he said. “This really is a big deal.”
It wasn’t clear how much the project would cost, but top Biden administration officials saw it as a way to connect important parts of the world, like India and Europe, and make it easier to trade and move energy and digital information. Also, it’s important that Israel is working with a country that has been an enemy in the past, like Saudi Arabia. Biden is also trying to make a deal to improve ties between the two countries.
Jon Finer, the deputy national security director, said that it was important to come to an understanding in a place that “has often been a net exporter of instability and insecurity.”
“We think connecting these two regions is a great chance to build on the work we’ve done over the last few years to cool down the whole region,” Finer said.
Officials in the countries involved are supposed to come up with a plan for the projects, which include connecting energy grids, laying undersea and road lines, and making more digital connections, within 60 days. Some of the jobs include putting in hydrogen pipes from Israel to Europe, which government officials think will help them reach their goals for clean energy.
The meeting was held in a city that was mostly shut down because of tight security. There were police cops at almost every corner, and shops and restaurants were closed.
Most of the meetings at the conference were closed to the media, but Biden planned to talk about why he was against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the opening gathering.
American officials tried to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak at the conference, which he did in person at a G-7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, and online at last year’s G-20 meeting in Bali.
Finer said, “In general, we think it’s a good thing when President Zelensky can make his and Ukraine’s case for how bad this conflict has been for his people and his country.” “He is the best person to tell them that. And it will be done in a way that makes it possible for the Ukrainian side to be heard.
Biden walked down a long hallway to meet Modi when he got to the meeting early on Saturday morning. As he came closer, he asked, “How are you?” as he seemed to jog up a small hill. The two leaders then shook hands and looked at a G-20 sign that said, “One Earth. One Family. One Future.”
Later, they met in a big room with three rows of desks arranged in a circle. A chandelier hung over the desks, and small flags showed where the leaders of each country should sit.
During the first session, Biden was between the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Before Biden sat down, leaders from Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, and Nigeria were among the people who welcomed him.
“This time in the 21st century is a chance to change the way the whole world works. “It is a time when old problems need new answers from us,” Modi said in a speech to world leaders as he sat behind a sign that said not India but Bharat, which is the Hindi name for the country. This change in branding has caused a lot of controversy in the country.
The G-20 meeting is a big chance for Modi’s India to brand itself around the world.
It was hard to come to an agreement on a united statement, especially about how to talk about the war in Ukraine.
