What happened at the G20 Summit in India?

Author: Ryan Baldry, Senior Communications Manager

This year’s G20 Summit in India was a relatively calm affair where the war Ukraine was not an obvious front and centre issue like in previous summits.

Nowhere is that clearer than the final Communique agreed by the group:

In line with the UN Charter, all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.

To NATO and EU countries, this will be seen as the strongest wording they could have agreed given the other states positions who they would have been negotiating with. However, Russia will be pleased to see that the Communique goes some way to remove condemnation of the invasion and also emphasises the protection of sovereignty - one of the key arguments for the invasion. There is no real winner from this, especially for Ukraine.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did make two key announcements on the sidelines of the Summit - a climate fund contribution and a new partnership with Singapore.

On the Climate Fund contribution, the UK has pledged a $2billion contribution to help developing and island nations build resilience and deal with the impacts of climate change. The Prime Minister also committed to attend the COP28 Summit taking place in Dubai.

The new Partnership with Singapore focused on trade relations and set the groundwork for a future investment partnership. The agreement also allows for greater information sharing on key technologies such as cyber and AI - the areas Rishi Sunak sees as key legacy issues for him.

Presidency of the G20 has now been handed to Brazil who will host next year’s summit.

Images courtesy of Downing Street / Twitter (X)