Watch: UAE President shares his G20 experience, reiterates belief that world must unite

The UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has reaffirmed the Emirati belief that the world must unite to confront challenges facing humanity. As he posted a video of his visit to India during the G20 summit on Sunday, the leader said he engaged in "constructive talks".

"We will continue to support international efforts aimed at achieving a stable and sustainable future for all," he posted on Instagram.

Beginning with visuals of a hearty welcome and the colourful sights and sounds in the country, the video shows the highlights of the two-day summit that saw leaders from the world’s top-20 economies herald a “historical and path-breaking” declaration to tackle a host of challenges.

The video showed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcoming him to the summit with a hearty handshake and a warm hug. In his opening remarks, Modi said: “May the welfare and happiness of mankind be ensured at all times. Come, with this let us begin the G20 summit.”

Greetings and Friendship

Despite stark differences among many of the key players in the group, leaders were able to hammer out a consensus document, which would hopefully enable them to tackle the formidable challenges over the coming years.

A shot in the video shows various leaders holding hands and celebrating the launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance. A total of 19 countries and 12 international organisations have agreed to join the alliance, including both G20 members and non-member countries.

The video also shows French president Emmanuel Macron greeting Sheikh Mohamed with a warm hug. He can also be seen addressing the UAE president as a “friend” before saying “We want to thank you, Your Highness. We want to commit to invest alongside with you.” Sheikh Mohammed responds to this by placing a hand on his heart. At the meeting, the two leaders met individually and discussed cooperation between the countries.

The G20 group unveiled an ambitious infrastructure project that would connect a vast geography from India across the UAE and Saudi Arabia and Europe to the US through a shipping and rail corridor, aimed to boost crucial segments of the economy including commerce, energy and data.

This is seen as an alternative supply chain that has emerged in the post-pandemic era, and which is expected to result in all-round development across several countries. “We see this as having a high appeal to the countries involved and also globally because it is of high standard and is not coercive,” said a top American official.

Cooperation

Throughout Sheikh Mohamed’s video, he is also seen shaking hands with and having in-depth discussions with various leaders at the meeting. He had individual meetings with several country premiers over the course of the summit.

Snippets of addresses by various leaders including US President Joe Biden, President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud are also seen in the video.

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The UAE said it will work alongside Saudi Arabia, European Union, India, and the United States on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. The country’s cooperation on this initiative reflects its efforts to strengthen international partnerships and contribute towards a sustainable future, particularly in advance of hosting the upcoming COP28 climate conference in November.

Besides aiming to help low and middle-income economies, the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, adopted by the group, aims to prepare the world for the challenges of the future including deep divisions within relating to several issues, including the festering one in Ukraine.

But more importantly, the members were able to overcome many of the pending issues and take on the challenges of the future. One of the major initiatives was the induction of the African Union as the new permanent member.

The Ukraine issue, which has been a major thorn in the G20 dialogues, was also tackled diplomatically. It is being seen by observers as a softening of the tough stance taken last year by the group against Russia. Countries including India, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia played a key role in soothing tempers between the US and its allies and Russia, reflecting the growing clout of the Global South members.

Other significant developments that were taken up by the group included the objective to triple renewable energy capacities globally by 2030, the need to reduce dependence on coal, and also the acknowledgement for a major transition to green energy over the coming years.

Narendra Modi asked the group's leaders to hold a virtual meeting in November to review progress on policy suggestions and goals announced at the weekend.

"It is our responsibility to look at the suggestions that have been made to see how progress can be accelerated," he said in a statement.

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