In a veiled snub to China, Indian Sherpa says, "New Delhi Leaders' Declaration is almost ready" : Digital Payment Infrastructure, has broadly been accepted as…the way to bring financial inclusion

(China said on Friday it is willing to work with all parties and push for a positive outcome at the summit.)

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks after a media report said UK PM Rishi Sunak blamed China for delaying an agreement on various issues, including Ukraine.

Diplomatic opprobrium and war crimes charges are also keeping Russian leader Vladimir Putin away, although Moscow continues to press allies to water down international condemnation of its invasion of Ukraine.

"Once again, Vladimir Putin is failing to show his face at the G20," said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

"He is the architect of his own diplomatic exile, isolating himself in his presidential palace and blocking out criticism and reality.

"The rest of the G20, meanwhile, are demonstrating that we will turn up and work together to pick up the pieces of Putin's destruction." (Arab News reported) 

Heading to the summit, US President Joe Biden also insisted that the meeting would still "deliver", even as markets fretted that a trade war between the world's two largest economies was poised to escalate.

Sunak will urge Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "call out" Russia over its invasion and use its clout to help end the war, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

(Media reports say US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre were grilled by the press traveling with U.S. President Joe Biden on the relative 'lack of access' they would have to Biden’s meetings in New Delhi, particularly the bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.)

 The U.S. President is scheduled to land in New Delhi on Friday evening for the G-20 Summit and is expected to hold bilateral discussions with Mr Modi at the Prime Minister’s official residence.

"New Delhi Leaders' Declaration is almost ready," claims India's Sherpa Amitabh Kant said the summit's concluding statement will be a "voice" of the global south and developing countries.

"I would not like to dwell on it," Kant told a news conference. "This declaration will be recommended to the leaders," he said adding the journey of drafting the Declaration and the purported hurdles created by China (he did not name any country) will be divulged only after the Summit. 

(President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Azali Assoumani being welcomed by Union Minister of State for Railways Danve Raosaheb Dadarao) 

In an exclusive interview to The Hindu, AU Chairperson Azali Assoumani said, “We are confident of becoming a full member of G20 in the summit being held under Indian Presidency.” 

“G20 should invest in industrialisation of Africa so that our resources are used to produce goods in the continent and our youth can find employment,” he said.

Meanwhile, foreign heads of state and dignitaries landed in New Delhi on September 8, ahead of the upcoming G-20 summit from September 9-September 10 to be held at the ‘Bharat Mandapam’.

 The summit is expected to be attended by more than 30 heads of state and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are staying away from the Summit due to different reasons, the presence of US President Joe Biden will be major attraction nevertheless.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding more than 15 bilateral meetings over the next two-three days. 

He will hold bilateral talks with U.S. President Joe Biden, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth. 

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"When India took over the G20 presidency in Bali, we were in the midst of a scenario of slowing growth and productivity worldwide...India felt that we should start our presidency with the theme of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'-the world is one family. 

PM Modi said India's presidency should be inclusive, decisive, ambitious and action-oriented. We've lived up to his vision of being inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and very decisive during our presidency," Amitabh Kant said.

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“This is the host of the G-20 hosting a significant number of leaders, doing so in his home, and he has set out the protocols he’s set out,”  Mr Sullivan said aboard Air Force One en route to India via Germany, as per a transcript shared by the White House.  However, the issue of press access had been taken up by U.S. officials with their Indian counterparts, Mr Sullivan said. 

Several senior U.S. officials had worked on press access, Mr Sullivan said, and that in this instance the relative lack of access  was “a circumstance-based issue”  and nothing “ larger” . 

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One of the key takeaways of India’s G20 presidency is the revolutionization of Digital Payment Infrastructure, as initially very few people knew about it, but it has been taken forward extensively, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said on Friday.

He further said that the digital payment infrastructure has been widely accepted as a way to bring financial inclusion.

Addressing the pre-summit briefing, Kant said, “When India started the G20 Presidency, very few people knew about Digital Payment Infrastructure and the open source model of it. This has been extensively taken forward, by both the Finance track and Sherpa track in a very rigorous manner. 

Digital Payment Infrastructure, has broadly been accepted as…the way to bring financial inclusion. This is the way to do fast payments, this is the way to drive the innovation of the future”.

“One of the key takeaways of India’s presidency is that it has completely revolutionalised digital payment infrastructure, which is a unique model. Its definition, its framework and how we take it forward, all of this has come into discussion in India’s G20 presidency,” he added.

'Global Times' commentary: 

The Indian people have the freedom to call their country whatever they want. However, a name is not the most important thing. What matters is whether India can comprehensively reform its economic system, which can be traced back to before 1947 when the nation became independent. This is the key to India's economic takeoff, and improving India's influence on the international stage. 

Without revolutionary reform, India cannot achieve revolutionary development.

The Modi administration has been one of the most ambitious governments in India in terms of economic reforms since 1991, when India started major reforms to liberalize its economy. Unfortunately, India is increasingly shifting toward trade protectionism. Some of its previous reform measures have also stalled.