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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ christian: hello. i'm christian fraser in new delhi, and this is "the context ." >> the g20 is a broad group of countries and their different perspectives, but it is still important to be talking to people and engaging and highlighting things like russia's aggression and the impact it is having. >> for the government, this is that moment. they want to say we are the voice of the people, the global south as they are calling it. we are the voice of the developing countries, we are the people who can talk to you on their behalf. >> it is outrageous that president putin is again

blocking the black sea, and so preventing making sure that no ukrainian grain is coming out of the black sea and going out to the international market. christian: one earth, one family, one future -- the slogan that is omnipresent here in new delhi. but in truth, this is a deeply divided club of nations. president putin is absent, so, too, is president xi. what can be achieved at this weekend's summit? peter ricketts, former national security the british government, and also with us, the ceo of the aspen center, a think tank here in new delhi. a very good evening and a warm welcome to new delhi, just over

my right shoulder, the great exhibition hall where in just a few ours' time, the g20 leaders, joined by others, will begin the first day of their summit. the leaders of the g20 represent two thirds of humanity on earth, 85% of the economic output. the guest list for this weekend's summit might be a little light, missing one or two key names. but this represents the most important meeting india has ever hosted. prime minister modi has been guiding the g20 agenda since the beginning of the year. it's a matter of huge national pride. you cannot travel a few meters in downtown new delhi at the moment without encountering mr. mdoi telling you -- mr. modi telling in the loudest terms india is the mother of democracy. some of my question how healthy the democracy is, but no

question there has been plenty of open debate. all told they'll 240 meetings and working groups, more than any previous summit, in cities right across the country. >> india has selected the theme of one earth, one family, one future. ♪ >> all of us individually and collectively have an obligation to contribute to international growth and prosperity. ♪ >> g20 means a lot to me as an indian, and it is the biggest achievement, i feel, for the government. it is beyond the ones hosting

it, the sense of collective this is what it is about. yes, i am very excited for it. ♪ christian: under prime minister modi, india is becoming a global player, and the g20 and the prestige of a meeting like this is a good place to show just how far the country has come. a little earlier, i met up with our southeast asia correspondent yogita lamaye, who showed me around a gleaming new delhi. so, yogita, new delhi is a city transformed. i'm driving around the airport and there are people sweeping and they have really gone to town on it. why is it so important? yogita: well, a couplof things. it is part of indian culture. when you have guests visiting your home, you cleaned it up, you spruce it up, you might draw a pattern outside.

it is very much part of culture here. but for the government, it's also very much a moment to show the world what indi's place is in it. and therefore i think it is very important for them to projected new delhi as a city of the world. and that is part of the reason it has been spruced up and while you sell what you did on your way and.--saw what you did on your way in. christian: i'm looking around us, the young people. the most populous nation, the fastest growing major economy. they place a lander on the moon. it is a billing opportunity to showcase how far the country has come. yogita: absolutely. we have become the most populous country in the world this year. you've had, as you said, the moon mission. there was lots of joy, lots of pride in india about that, and now india being host of the g20 summit. for the government, certainly, this is that moment. they want to say we are the

voice of the people, the global south as they are calling it. we are the voice of the developing countries, we are the people who can talk to you on their behalf, we are the middle ground between russia and ukraine, we can be the people who can solve problems for the world. and that is how india and the government and prime minister narendra modi hopes to position this country. christian: he's everywhere. yogita: literally. christian: it feels like an election. but we are in the run-up to election, so it is important to him personally. yogita: absolutely. we will have elections within the next year, probably april or may next year. it is extremely important politically. there is a lot connected to that, because part of the domestic pitch is also global. and i think some part of it, indians feeling confident that when they step out of this country and go places and people recognize the country, they recognize the leader. i've had a lot to people tell me we've never had that before. that is certainly something this

government can take credit for, and it is something which is part of their political pitch as well. and now this gives you the imagery. you've got all of the big presidents, the russian president, chinese president will not be here, but you have got thother big leaders in the world shaking his hand. it gives you a big photo opportunity to make that pitch to the domestic voter. christian: yogita lamaye there. let's bring in our panel, who have been waiting patiently. peter ricketts, pick up on that last point yogita made. india still denied a seat at the security council. setting aside brics, this is the first major geopolitical forum india has led. you can understand the excitement and why they are pushing so hard and perhaps pushing a different agenda. peter: yes, this is an important moment for india to show to the world. it has tended to position itself as one of the leading countries

but sticking to its region as far as geopolitics. but now india is convening the world, and mr. modi is wanting to present india as the leader of the nonaligned nations, the global south. it helps him that xi jinping isn't there. it allows him to be the uncontested voice of the underdeveloped countries towar s the western countries, to play the role of broker. i think it is going to be difficult for him to come out with any substantive content for the summit in terms of joint declarations. the world is very split on issues like ukraine. nonetheless, a factor of the meeting, all of the attention it draws to india, is very benefici for prime minister modi, and it helps them demonstrate that india is one of the leading voices of the nonaligned countries between the two blocs of america and china. christian: we will talk plenty about ukraine through the program tonight, but i am told

on the sidelines of the summit tonight that the sherpas, the people who carry papers from one camp to another, are working on a draft communique, but there are deep divisions. you have been in this position before as a former national security aisor photo how difficult is it to get a text everybody agrees on? peter: when the g20 was set up at the height of the financial crisis, everyone was in serious panic mode, and it was easy to bring the 20 largest country together and come up with proposals on how to deal with the crisis. now the world is much more divided than it was in 2009. part of the valuef the summit is not going to be what the written texts are, but the time leaders spent together over the coffee machine, alongside each other. when it comes to the written text, i suspect there will not be any formal words to bridge the gap between the u.s. and u.k. on one side and foreign

minister lavrov representing putin on the other side. they settled for a text that said most member states are critical of the war, but some others disagree. i doubt they would even get that this year. nonetheless, the meeting is important as a place to get together and hold off-the- record, bilateral contacts. christian: peter is right that often comes down to personal relationships. already as the leaders arrive we have seen various bilateral meetings. the one we have really focused on his prime minister modi and president joe biden. that's the common important relationship since the state visit to washington in july. how close, though? is it to people who can work together now? >> yes, well, you know, it isn't justbiden and modi. the india-u.s. relationship has been transformed, at least for

the past couple of decades. and it's been a work in progress since that, through every u.s. administration and indian government that has come in since the year 2000 is what i would say. we are at a point where the two countries are closer than ever in -- particularly in terms of their strategic relationship. and if you look at the joint statement was issued tonight after the meeting between biden and modi, you would see that the breadth of the relationship, particularly in defense, aerospace, civil nuclear, emerging technologies, basically the future,pace -- so a lot of the future technologies, a lot of the future areas even in terms of climate, india and

america are visiting themselves to get -- are positioning themselves together. that was very, very interesting. christian: conceptually, indrani , the g20 makes a lot of sense, because the world economy has shifd, shifted to this part of the world. but actually as peter says, since 2008, 2009, they did an awful lot during the financial crash, but since then there record is pretty sketchy. why? why does the g20 not achieve things like the g7 or the un security council or other big international forums? indrani: my senses -- if you look at the g20 when it was literally resurrected from a finance minister's group to leader's group, principal's group, it was in the middle of the crisis. but i think the g20 in the last decade has evolved as literally

the only representative multilateral grouping. but it hasn't yet got the executive ability that, say, the un security council does. the g7 -- you know, it takes decisions literally for a small group of countries now, because there is a large swath of the world that remains untouched by those decisions. the hope is that decisions at the g20 would be much more inclusive and taking a larger part of the road that the other groups you talked about. -- larger part of the world than the other groups you talked about . christian: part of the problem is it is riven by division. it becomes very difficult when

you have a larger group to keep everybody on the same page. they tended to split into their various groups, don't they. peter: yes, the g20 can only achieve something when the countries have aligned interests. over the last 20 years that alignment has been narrowing. over ukraine it is wide open. there are somewhat more technical issues, important issues like the debt of poorer countries, help with climate-change adjustment, and hopes that they can come out with specific agreements on particular areas. but there is no great appetite between russia, china, the u.s., and u.k. to come out with broad statements of global principles of the moment because the countries are too divided. christian: for the moment, peter, thank you. joining me is a foreign policy analyst and a supporter of

india's ruling party, the bjp. welcome to the program. we have been talking about the draft communique. you know about the tensions surrounding ukraine. what do you think they are going to get when it comes to the final statement? >> well, the g20 summit this year in india being held in a very complex kind of situation. we do understand that the last couple of months there has been this raging war between russia and ukraine. western countries, they have their own take in relation to ukraine. russia has its own take in relation to ukraine. our honorable prime minister has said this many a times, and we have advocated this many a times, the 21st century is not an ear or war,-- era of war, but

an era of peace, current quality, and brotherhood -- peas, tranquilly, and brotherhood. the g20 is based on that notion itself, one world, universal brotherhood, based on the ancient sanskrit scripture. our honorable prime minister has said it many times to his excellency, the president of russia, as well as his excellency the president of united states of america, and also to the nato countries, that it is time to negotiate and come to the table and find out a lasting solution in relation to this conflict. christian: well, i understand that, but the prime minister has also talked about the global south and poverty and developing nations. you have a war that is cutting off grain supplies and you have 250 million people around the world who are food-deprived. don't you have to take a side on the war for the good people outside ukraine and russia?

>> yes, absolutely, there are many pertinent problems being faced by the global world. one is in relation to the recession across the globe. together, of course can we have this international labor crisis. we have this issue of environmental degradation, the carbon issue, and many plethora of other issues in relation to food security, in relation to incorporation of nations and their hopes and expectations. there are a plethora of issues, and india hasn't spoken about all of this in a different forum that has -- india has spoken about this in different forums, whether it is brics, or the asean summit. our prime minister will be advocating this in the g20 summit also. we need to come out to a kind of consensus in relation to all

these important issues, which is very, very important for the global world. our prime minister has advocated the idea of g21 in which the african union should be included. i would go a step forward and i would say that in future we have to think about the incorporation of the pacific island countries, the small countries of micronesia, polynesia -- heo? which have been unrepresented in international forums. therefore it has to be, in my understanding, to have a holistic picture, it has to be g22 in future as such. so, these are important issues in which i think there has to be a consensus across the global leaders. christian: mr. datta, very good of you to join us this evening. thank you very much indeed for your thoughts. we are going to take a short break.

you are watching bbc news. let's take a quick look at some of the other stories making news today. in the u.k., metropolitan police are investigating a terrist suspect who escaped from prison on wednesday by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery van. police of exploring the possibility that staff at the present might've helped him -- staff at the present might've helped him. the first anniversary of king charles's accession to the throne haseen marked by gun salutes in london and cardiff. soldiers and horses that took part in queen elizath ii's state funeral procession return for the anniversary salute in the king's honor. the king and queen visited close to balmoral castle. health authorities in the u.k. have published new data about the latest covid variant. it appears to show that transmission is taking place in the community, although the

scientists say that the current time there is not enough data to know how much of a threat it is posing to public health. you are watching bbc ns. tomorrow the british prime minister rishi sunak will meet for a bilat with prime minister modi. quite a moment if you think about it. a prime minister with indian heritage, all power and new, and in terms of size, the older c colonial power is the junior powerful india has a population three times the size of the british empire at its peak. from the u.k. perspective, an agreement would be hugely valuable and an important part of the wider indo pacific tilt mr. sunak is after post-brexit. here is what he had to say. prime min. sunak: the g20 is a

broad group of countries but it is important to be talking and engaging in highlighting russia's aggression. it is important to have these conversations. christian: peter ricketts, i think we are on, what, round 16 of the indian trade negotiation? what do you think is the main sticking point for the british government? peter: india is always a very tough negotiator. they want to be very careful, making sure to hold their own market. they are the dominant economic player in the relationship. the sticking point tends to be on the u.k. side around the demand for more visas for indian businessmen, students, quicker processing of visas, anything that looks in the u.k. like an easing of restrictions on migration to the u.k. may be sensitive for the government. we need to keep in perspective what this tray deal would do. of course it is a symbolic. it is important for both

countries. it is important for both countries in a pre-election period. for the government's own assessment that the tariff barriers were done away with, british edp would increase -- british gdp would increase by princely 0.05% by 2035. if there was a comprehensive deal, 0.1% gdp. this is not going to be a game changer for the british or indian economy. it is symbolic and would help certain industries, but let's please keep it in perspective. christian: indrani, there has been massive growth in the indian economy. is the fastest growing of the major economies at the moment. but when you compare its size to china, it is a fifth of the size. i get the sense given the direction mr. sunak is coming from that this is a deal that will get done at some point, but we have two elections pending and it may get shoved further down the line. indrani: i think the indians are

actually very keen to complete this deal. they have been at it and they really wanted it last year. there are a couple of sticky areas. i do believe that they are putting in the best negotiators, because they really want to get this done and use this as a template for the eu trade deal that is being negotiated at present. christian: i said that it was a big moment for rishi sunak. undoubtedly it is. he was very warmly welcomed today, and cameras will be on the bilat tomorrow. but i get the sense there may be more interest in his wife, who was actually born here and grew up in india and is from a very important family in india, correct? indrani: yes, she is. you do know that rishi sunak is actually from of indian origin

but from east africa, not actually from india. but she comes from a very famous family. but yeah. christian: does that actually -- sorry, i just left you, but does that complicate -- part of it is visas for students, but also the tech sector. and he is cofounder of the biggest tech company of all india. indrani: it is. visas for tech people, tech professionals, is always a sticking point everywhere. i think negotiating something similar with america right now, because tech professionals tend to keep wanting to go to america, and america has at least for indians something

like 1000 days waiting for a visa. so, visas to the u.k. for tech professionals would be a big one. i do believe there are some other issues in terms of whiskey, smaller stuff. but i think important to the u.k., some areas of market access for india. but nothing that is insurmountable. i do believe this will come through. christian: yeah, interesting to hear from the government today saying they didn't want to take what we would call an earlier harvest deal, a skinny deal, because prime minister sunak thinks in a time they can add a lot more to it and it is better doing it now than the other side of it. for the moment, thank you. we will take a short break. on the other side of the break we will talk about the big faultlines of the summit, the

tension between india and china. we will talk about the global south as well, certainly a focus for prime minister modi. bangladesh is coming to the first summit in 18 years, which i guess is an indictment in and of itself. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.