In this age of imperialism, “Developed countries”(exploiting countries) are competing with each other to capture the markets of “Developing countries”(exploited countries). The G20 forum as we know is more than just a two-day meeting of the world leaders, a lot of it happens in the background where financial experts and bureaucrats of 19 countries plus the European Union discuss and frame economic policies. The G20 summit maintains the economic oppression under the garb of “Development” and “Economic cooperation” through a non-antagonistic resolution of conflicting interests to the extent possible.
It may cover 75% of Global trade and 85% of the world’s GDP, however, it does not serve the interests of 2/3rd of the world’s population as it claims. The Government of Brazil will not attend this meeting with the interests of the ‘Favellas’ of Rio De Janeiro and likewise, the Government of India will not attend the event with the interests of Dharavi of Mumbai. Rather, the preparations in Delhi were accompanied with large-scale demolitions of slums. Thousands of eviction notices were sent and a number of buildings were demolished in the areas of Tughlaqabad and Mehrauli. Slums were destroyed overnight. Vasant Vihar’s Coolie Camp was covered with wooden scaffoldings and green curtains. Police acted in the most brutal manner to any resident questioning these outrageous actions. The High Court of Delhi turned a deaf ear to the pleas of the street vendors and the slum dwellers whose livelihoods were destroyed. The other aspect was the showcasing of this spectacle of international significance to a domestic audience in the run-up to multiple Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections. The spending was four times the proposed budget. No wonder India, that is Bharat, swapped places with Indonesia to chair this year’s summit. The waterlogging at the Bharat Mandapam venue after some heavy rain of course burst this saffron bubble.
The group was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 as an informal forum for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of ‘the most important’ industrialized and developing economies to discuss international economic and financial stability. In the wake of the global economic and financial recession of 2007, the G20 became the premier platform for ‘international economic cooperation’. These twenty countries self-selected themselves by virtue of their share in the global Gross Domestic Product. The recently concluded 18th summit meeting in India stands out particularly due to the inclusion of the African Union consisting of 55 African countries, converting G20 into G21. This has expanded the representation of the global south in this international economic platform. The other development of significance is the weakening of the US imperialist bloc in this forum with a strengthening of the Russia-China bloc that practically forced the forum to accept a declaration regarding the Ukraine war unfavourable to Ukraine as well as the US-EU bloc. Backing off from the G20 platform would have eroded the West’s influence over the ‘developing nations’ since the Western power would not have a platform to engage with the economies of the global south. This is a reflection of the intensifying economic crisis engulfing the hegemonic imperialist US bloc. The declaration noted, “Global economic growth is below its long-run average and remains uneven” and “balance of risks remains tilted to the downside.” This is nothing but a sneak peek into the economic recession looming large as an effect of the irreconcilable crisis of capitalism.
Coming to the Sustainable Development Goals preached about in these international summits, it’s a rerun of the typical hollow promises. On one hand the ecological crisis is being aggravated through corporate plunder by the imperialist nations of the third world, on the other hand very superficial efforts are taken up by the worst global polluters to mitigate the crisis. MSMEs have been termed “natural engines of growth” while they are sought to be absorbed into corporate controlled global value chains to ease extraction of profits. Countries with high debts have been left to the mercy of the creditors.
Earlier this year in March when a G20 event was held in Amritsar, a huge gathering of farmers protested against the event with the slogans Samrajyavad Murdabad (Death to Imperialism). The WTO (World Trade Organization) and FTA (Free Trade Agreement) have had a devastating impact on the Indian farming sector. The US and the European Union have pushed unfavourable policies onto India by striking very biased trade deals. Indigenous crop varieties are patented and forced under international intellectual property laws by foreign entities, making the small and middle peasants pay huge sums to them as royalty. Just before the arrival of Biden, Finance Ministry of Indian Govt. issued a notification on September 5, 2023 to waive off additional duties on apples, chickpeas, almonds and walnuts. This measure is being opposed locally as India would then be used as a dumping ground for these items.
It is only through a boycott of such unfair treaties and agreements that the exploited countries can be emancipated. However, it is not possible in the existing structure as the puppet governments are placed in Asia-Africa-Latin America by the global finance capital to serve their agenda. It is only through overthrowing such puppet governments by the respective people of their country, that we can achieve emancipation from the clutches of Imperialism.
Ref: The G20 Summit-Beyond the Hype by Akash Bhattacharya (Liberation Oct ‘23)
