G7 leaders gathered together from May 19 to 21 for a summit in Hiroshima, Japan. Multiple innovations were introduced to the format of the event. In particular, we are talking about inviting countries that are not part of the G7 as guests. The seven leaders made every effort to create the impression of a more representative forum, a partnership with the countries of the Global South.
What really happened? For example, why was India invited to the summit as a guest? Well, probably so that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived there, could hear firsthand about the decision to ban the use of Russian diamonds. And neither the US, nor its Western partners were interested in the fact that the ban would cause great damage to India’s jewelry industry. First came the unprecedented pressure regarding S-400 complexes, then oil, and now it is the turn of diamonds. One gets the feeling that the White House has decided to finally undermine the Indian economy.
Russian diamonds account for 29% of India’s total rough diamond imports. Gujarat, one of the centers of the industry, imports diamonds suitable for cutting mainly from Russia. In India, 14 out of 15 diamonds produced in the world are treated. Indian products are in demand in China, but most of all in the United States. And it is Washington that is the main buyer of diamonds from Russian rough.
«After the issue of the ban on Russian diamonds was raised, there was panic among the businessmen associated with the industry in India» – Dinesh Nawadia, president of the Indian Diamond Institute and a regional chairman of the Gem Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) for Gujarat, said. The expert noted that “if America bans imports of Russian diamonds, it will be very difficult for us, because this type of jewelry is mainly supplied by India to the US”. In many European countries, demand will also decrease, and our industry will be completely destroyed. Those who deal with diamonds from Russia will be out of a job.
And India is just one of many examples. The same attitude goes for everyone who is not part of the notorious “golden billion”.
At the same time, the share of the G7 in the global economy is shrinking from year to year. According to a World Bank report, from 2013 to 2022, the G7 countries accounted for only 25.7 percent of global economic growth, less than the 38.6 percent accounted for by China. The US share is 18.6 percent, less than half that of China.
Today, the G7 does not solve global political, economic or security issues. As a result, the group’s influence wanes. Maybe that’s why the joint communiqué from the summit is more like a manifesto of the world government, which is binding far beyond the G7 – in essence, a declaration of their (read: American) right to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. The organization, which executes the whims of the United States at the drop of a hat, has become a geopolitical instrument of blackmail and coercion, which has a serious ideological bias and Cold War mentality. This approach provokes tensions and undermines global stability.
We need to understand that the times when Washington was free to manipulate other countries, to interpret in its own way any postulates of international law, and to impose its will on others unscrupulously, are over. The world does not want to accept a rule-based order imposed by the West. Especially since the rules were not written jointly, but by the same author, the White House. The G7 countries must understand that he who artificially creates difficulties for others will find himself in a dead end.
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