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An Ambitious Agenda at the G20
President Joe Biden championed an ambitious agenda at the meeting of the world’s largest economies, known as the G20, recently held in New Delhi.
“This was an important moment for the United States to demonstrate our global leadership and our commitment to solving the challenges that matter most to people around the world: investing in inclusive growth and sustainable development, addressing the climate crisis, strengthening food security and education, advancing global health and health security,” he said.
President Biden said the United States showed up at the G20 summit “with a positive vision for our shared future:”
“We made progress on issues like multilateral development bank reform to get to those nations that are neither poor nor wealthy but couldn’t qualify before; debt relief, and increased infrastructure needs not only in the Global South, but other parts of the world as well.”
Alongside India, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, France, Germany, and the European Union, the United States announced a landmark commitment to work together to develop a new economic corridor:
“That will connect India to Europe with the Middle East and Israel, with transportation by rail and by shipment and energy supplies and digital connections that are going to open up untold opportunities for transformative economic investment through that entire corridor.”
The focus on reform and scaling up multilateral development banks like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is aimed at expanding the mobilization of transparent, high-quality investment into developing countries.
President Biden stressed that none of the efforts he is spearheading is made to injure the People’s Republic of China. “I want to see China succeed economically,” he said, “but I want to see them succeed by [following] the rules.”
Another issue discussed at the G20 was Russia’s brutal and illegal war in Ukraine. Although the summit’s joint declaration did not explicitly condemn Russia, President Biden noted that “there was sufficient agreement in the room on the need for a just and lasting peace that upholds the principles of the UN Charter and respects sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The United States will host the G20 summit in 2026 as a sign of its commitment to a critical working forum that is capable of solving some of the world’s most difficult problems.