A thick alphabet soup of global entities has been getting thicker
G20 meeting in New Delhi. Xi has not missed a single G20 since he came to power in 2012. Whether Xi’s absence is a snub aimed at India or whether China is turning against the construct of the G20 itself, only time will tell.
In contrast, his presence was obvious and large at the recently concluded BRICS summit in Johannesburg. Xi presided over that conclave where six new members, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, were admitted to the group. Any organization born for the cross-cutting purpose of crisis coordination works well so long as the crisis originates from a point exogenous to the group.
The G7 is built on shared values of liberal democracy, freedom and open markets. Unlike the G7, the only unifying theme for the G20 is that it is made up of large, growing countries. Without shared values, the G20 cannot easily build consensus when the conflict is within itself.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and the US-China standoff on hi-tech trade are proving to be litmus tests for the G20. The main reasons for the expanding nature of these plurilateral organizations is an attempt by China to mark and enhance its influence in new post-Bretton Woods groups. Keen to acquire a global following of its own, China seeks to foster institutions where its world view holds sway.
Given that the origins of the G20 are rooted in the liberal democracies of the G7, it is unlikely that China will ever wield meaningful influence there. The Chinese attempt is therefore to expand BRICS and promote the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO started as a Eurasian organization of several ‘stans’, founded by China and Russia, that has since expanded to include India and Pakistan.
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