"There were significant fears that joint declaration wouldn't be possible": Geopolitical expert Velina Tchakarova on G20

Cape Town [South Africa], November 26 : Velina Tchakarova, a geopolitical expert, said that there were significant fears that a joint declaration wouldn't be possible at the end of the G20 Summit due to the ongoing conflicts in different parts of the world, but proving it wrong, it was an "extremely successful presidency by India."
After the second day of the Cape Town Conversation event, Tchakarova told ANI, "In my view, this was an extremely successful presidency by India, and there are several reasons for that."
She noted that there was an expectation that there would be no joint declaration at the end of this one-year process. "You have hundreds of meetings throughout the year, many important ones as well, between foreign ministers or defence ministers. And at the end of this journey, you finalise the process with the summit," she said.
Furthermore, she added, "There were significant fears that a joint declaration wouldn't be possible..."
Noting that this has nothing to do with India, she added, "Because we know for a fact that right now, there is a very big conflict between the United States on the one hand and China and Russia on the other, and not only because of Russia's war against Ukraine, which is ongoing and which looks like it's going to last at least for the next few years...It happened also at the level of the Security Council of the United Nations."
Explaining the second important factor, she said that India has a traditionally strong relationship with Russia, a very "conflicting relationship with China," and a "growing relationship" with the US.
"So it's a kind of bridge builder right now. It has actually the best, let's say, position to take the best from both worlds, right? From the West and from China, Russia, let's say, kind of led regional formats, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization or BRICS," she added.
Moreover, Tchakarova emphasised that due to all this, the expectation was that there would be more troubles on the horizon rather than successful achievements.
"But in the end, it was the Indian diplomacy. It was also the experience of India how to deal with and how to tackle these issues," she added.
She further said that the Joint Declaration, with more than 90 bullet points, including five bullet points on the ongoing war in Ukraine, has been a big achievement.
Secondly, she highlighted the inclusion of the African Union in the G20 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tchakarova said that India keeps its promises as earlier it announced that it would like to be an advocate of the Global South.
"The second important point is the inclusion of the African Union...there is a balance, a kind of most fairer presentation of the Global South, so we see India keeps its promises because India announced that it wants to be an advocate of the Global South, of seven billion people, around the world...," she emphasised.
She further noted that the G20 represents the most vibrant economies of the world right now, including India, adding that India is "projected to become the world's economic power number three."