This year’s G7 summit in France’s scenic town of Biarritz has concluded without much fuss; this should be the main highlight of the gathering of the seven industrialised countries’ heads. Public’s memory is still fresh with the scene of last year’s summit in Quebec when US President Donald Trump castigated the host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and openly rejected the joint communiqué. For the recently concluded G7 summit, one can say that the annual get-together of heads of state was a nice photo-op. There came no display of provocation or discourtesy from any side, even though a previously unannounced, but very welcome, guest from Tehran sat in the audience. The only side who could have raised objection to Iran Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif’s presence was the US. But it chose to look the other way.
Even prior to the inauguration of the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to bring US and Iran closer and trigger talks on sanctions and the nuclear deal, but the summit proved to be a non-starter. Instead, Trump called for the inclusion of Russia to the group, but the proposal did not interest any other member. Russia used to be a member of the G8 until 2014, when it annexed Crimea, which resulted in its expulsion. These disagreements betray deep fissures in the group. More accurately, there is a divide between the US and the rest on a range of issues like trade, tariffs and foreign policy.
The summit’s only gains came for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who found an admirer in the person of Trump. Johnson and Trump had perfect chemistry as the latter declared the former the “right man for Brexit”. Johnson expects a trade deal from the US to keep afloat in the post-Brexit era. At times, Johnson kept a distance from Trump and stood by his European colleagues on issues like Trump’s escalating trade war with China. “We are in favour of trade and peace on the whole,” Johnson told Trump, even though Trump promised him a big trade deal. The other sigh of relief from the summit could be Trump’s comment that he might have second thoughts on the China trade issue.
The summit, however, failed to present a united front on issues like Iran, climate change and trade and tariffs. It was held under tight security to keep anti-capitalism demonstrations in nearby Bayonne in check. Their concerns never came under discussion. In all, the gathering of not-so-like-minded allies has ended without any sour point.
Source: https://dailytimes.com.pk/454525/g7-a-summit-of-divided-minds/
