Love in Japan

takeaways are still rolling in, like toppings for a pizza. At last count re were ten, each country insisting it had carried day. t sure if many of you caught it, but re were some very endearing moments at just concluded G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. For a start, heads of state and government, all twenty of m buffeted by heads of bilateral and multilateral ncies were furiously looking for an nda. In between, we saw a very rude United States (US) President Donald Trump wagging his index finger at all and sundry in country of genteel and polite. Between m, se countries drive billions of dollars of global ecomy.  Scary, right? 
 
His daughter, Ivanka Trump, decided to butt into conversations with French President Emanuel Macron and International Monetary Fund (IMF) President Christine Lagarde who was reduced to rolling her eyes as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (also igred by most, especially China’s Xi Jinping) looked like he was trying to avoid camera. What else could Lagarde do – anything else could mean job back home in Washington two years from w. Maybe.  

t that she is some wallflower herself. On passing of King Abdullah Bin Aziz of Saudi Arabia some years ago, Lagarde told world he was a “discreet” feminist, a comment so gross it brought her much ridicule. lady has always kept an eye on ecomy – hers, for a start.  

Speaking of Saudis, slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s ghost hung over very official dinner between Trump and Abdullah where presumably dignitaries had oil soup. Famous people make famous mistakes and say famously foolish things. In Trumps case, it was an absolute delight to watch him admonish Russian President Vladimir Putin with his index finger asking former t to meddle in US elections as Putting grinned. Do try and catch Trump’s interaction with Putin that went viral to understand how silence speaks a million words. 

It’s time to be insolent, dear readers and high time we call out nsense that plays itself out in a world that is t just unpredictable, but increasingly poor and heartless. re were leaders who behaved with dignity and douceur occasion required and this includes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and most Europeans who rarely speak out of turn (hello Ivanka Trump) China’s Xi Xinping and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. It’s called Maryada or manners as defined by host. 
 
bad boy according to Western media was Vlad – you got that right. Vlad. He said western liberalism is obsolete. Starved for headlines and most likely bored to tears, that statement did rounds for 24 hours as if Putin had said something new. problem with Anglo Saxon media – especially based out of Washington and London – is y don’t read. Which may explain ir strong opinions on all issues.

If re’s one thing recent elections in European Union (EU) showed it was capitalism and its uncle globalisation had foisted ir failures on voter. tenets upon which continent were built longer spoke to people a vast number of whom felt left behind and unaddressed, even disrespected. Putin was overstating his case, but only just. axis of power is shifting from Washington towards to Eurasia, irrevocably as populations and people rise, read and reclaim.

READ: Prime Minister Of India Narendra Modi 2.0

I use word uncle. Globalisation was a myth to begin with. It was about free trade in goods, market access, banking and financial services and finally people. In or words when globalisation finally took wings, an Indian should have been able to find a job in London or Brussels except that by time promise of that paragraph rolled out, re was a financial crisis in West and immigration was an issue. People became immigrants with families. In hindsight, it was always meant to be that way because Western nations had tightened immigration laws making it difficult t only for Eastern Europeans to migrate and settle in west, but certainly large parts of former colonies in Africa were kept out of loop as Europe shut itself around concentric circles of exclusion. Waters separated US and United Kingdom (UK). 
 
Langu came to rescue of illogical as we were n were told globalisation is female, climate change hurts women most, poverty saps children of ir best years and re’s plan B. Millions of dollars were mobilised for conferences and commas and career paths. Osaka did t make any statement.

Twenty years ago, G20 summit in Toronto saw mayhem and violence on streets, patience of people running out. re were tear gas battles in or parts of Europe when such summits were held. fact that Osaka passed without incident is t because world’s leaders are in complete concert – it’s because body cares and that is a terrible thing. y are t even relevant to merit our irreverence. 

On one hand we have nanny states wanting to control everything from Internet to what we eat while on or, countries are sinking under weight of ir own contradictions. Empathy – that’s word I was looking for. How much is too much and how much can one country spare to ensure that ar gets up on its feet. Why must every conversation be a dispute, wher a trade one or with gunboats and mortar? 

Summits like Osaka are vacuous, so far removed from ir original mandate that entire generations have been served pale banter. I was left wondering what Sherpa’s (teams that prepare preliminary documents and tes) were doing considering re were so many photo ops. How many side meeting can you fit into two days and what is outcome, as leaders seemed agreed on thing except snubbing or every w and n? 

Shekhar Kapur, actor-director and one of India’s finest thinkers tweets often under rubric “Lessons of Life.” Today he wrote: “We have forgotten. Once we worshipped Water. We worshipped Trees. We worshipped Nature. w we worship Profit. We worship money. We worship consumption. We worship ownership. wonder we have lost trust of Mor Nature. wonder she is turning against us.” Wise words for movers and shakers of world as y lay foundations for second quarter of 21st century. 

re simply isn’t eugh in this world for everyone to own vast quantities we want wher that is nations, people or communities. We have lost self-respect and meetings like G20 only highlight desperation and desolation that is heaped on us. 
 
, re was Love in Osaka. It might as well have been called summit of igred. w expect US to give India some kind of NATO status. Bad news.

( views and opinions expressed within this article are personal opinions of author. facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in article do t reflect views of Republic TV/ Republic World/ ARG Outlier Media Pvt. Ltd.)