G20 Special Part II: How the world order is being reshaped on its sidelines.

The 'official' outcomes of the G20 summit in Delhi were many. Statements were made, documents were signed, dinners were held, and decisions were made. The G20 became more representative, politically and socially inclusive, and covered a wider range of issues than ever before. This blog is the second part of a two-part blog series on the G20 summit in Delhi. The first part, where the G20 summit's official outcomes, the decisions made under its framework, and the Delhi Declaration have been discussed in detail, can be found here - G20 Special Part I: The Delhi Declaration and its outcomes.

But the official summit served as a facade for the actual big meetings, big decisions, and big agreements made on its sidelines, that aim to reshape the world order. The decisions taken on its sidelines may change the way that the East trades with the West, the power dynamics between the East and the West, cementing India's global stature as an emerging superpower capable of leading policy decisions around the world, and highlighted the increasing role of India in shaping the new world order.

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), being set up by the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), is being touted as a direct challenger to the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that is seen to be slowing down, due to unsustainable debts being given out to countries that cannot afford to pay them back. The IMEC is also seen as a potential alternative to the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) which is an economic corridor between India, Iran and Russia, aimed at providing India access to Europe and vice-versa for enhancement of trade. This is seen as an alternative US-led initiative to counter the BRI and effectively China, as well as an effort by the US to court India away from Russia, by reducing its reliance on Russia for energy trade through the INSTC.

The G20 summit itself was conducted in a world that has been increasingly more and more divided on the Ukraine issue, so much so that there was wide speculation that a joint leaders' declaration may not even be signed. India through its successful efforts to forge a consensus on the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration has successfully proven India's capability as a 'bridging power' between the East and the West, and increased India's stature as an emerging superpower having a proactive foreign policy as opposed to a reactive one as it has been for decades.

The Chinese and Russian presidents' absence was seen to loom large over the summit, but ended up being a strategic advantage for India as it was able to shine brighter than anyone else in the room. The discussions on the sidelines suggested a West (read United States) that was marginally successful in courting India a bit away from Russia, and a slight lean towards the West for India while also maintaining its strategic autonomy by the softening of the language against Russia on the Ukraine conflict.

The summit itself and the discussion on its sidelines have also had domestic economic implications as evidenced by the fact that one of the benchmark national stock market indices, the NSE Nifty 50, reached all time highs after the summit's conclusion, with it even crossing the 20,000 mark after witnessing a relative slump since the rallies in July due to the Fed's successive interest rate hikes. The summit also provided an opportunity for India to present itself on the world stage as an attractive investment destination with a rich cultural heritage, democratic values, and an immense market potential.

In conclusion, the summit cements India as an emerging global superpower with immense potential for growth and a strong and independent foreign policy to match. This summit also provides India with an increased exposure in world media, and in turn global society, as well as proving India's capability to negotiate with rival superpowers and bring about a compromise in a way that no other nation can or has the ability to do. India can proudly celebrate the successful summit as a historic milestone on its journey to becoming a superpower bearing in mind two things, one, that this is not the first nor the last such milestone that India has to achieve, and two, that India as it stands cannot rest on its laurels and needs to continue moving forward in this direction.