G-20 Summit: a tale of hypocrisy and greed

One of the biggest and most vividly present self-deceptions that mankind has created is what we call a ballot. A ballot is no guarantee or indication of a country having a democratic government. Lo and behold, ask anyone about democracy and their first response would be that it is a form of government, which comes into power with the help of the ballot. I wish it was that simple. What is even more challenging is to explain and instill the truth about it into the minds of the people who have only read the most famous line about democracy: the one that says by the people, for the people and so forth.

The G-20 Summit just days ago was nothing more than a bunch of old men flying into New Delhi using climate killing fossil fuel paid for with their fellow citizens’ tax money, just to come together and plan to increase profits for the corporations of their respective countries, which would never be shared with the people whose tax money was used. We live in a world where cost is socialised and profit is privatized, as Chomsky said. At times, it seems confusing to see why the world even had a Cold War when communism and capitalism both co-exist in many of the world’s rich nations. Street vendors, monkeys, and dogs were scared away to clear the roads of New Delhi.

This meeting was for many things but here is the one thing it was not for: vox populi. The people of the nations whose leaders arrived in New Delhi have no idea about why these meetings even happen, let alone having the ability to have an intelligent judgment about the usefulness of them. Americans are struggling to pay their mortgages and come out of the credit card debt that has exceeded a trillion dollar figure. Yet, the solution to all these and many domestic ills is somehow a multinational rail and shipping project that would link India with the Middle East and Europe.

Biden’s ambition to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative by pitching America as an alternative partner to developing nations can somehow ease the stressful lives of the American people. One of the things Biden said was that this pact would provide “endless opportunities” for clean energy, clean electricity and so forth. Either that was a prank or he was having his notorious slip of tongue moment because standing next to the Saudi Arabian leader whose kingdom aggressively fights against climate change awareness and action and talking about clean energy is just too much to make sense of.

As for Pakistan, despite having been run by dictatorships for many years, its credentials were not good enough to be part of this undemocratic alliance. There was some noise about Mohammad Bin Salman possibly visiting Pakistan but then somehow his plane GPS took a U-turn back to the desert kingdom. Many people commented about that because it upset many Pakistanis. I was also upset but not because of MBS not visiting Pakistan but rather how Pakistan has accepted to make do with the low lying fruit. Back in 2006, President Bush had visited Pakistan and India both. Our critique during those days was that Bush had given great civilian atomic energy deals to India while in Pakistan, he merely played cricket. President Clinton before him had briefly visited Pakistan.

Today, Pakistan only aims to have the Saudi de facto leader visit Pakistan and even that did not materialise. I don’t know about other nations but somehow Pakistan manages to deteriorate only with every passing day. I had left Pakistan in 2010 out of the need to earn a decent living because I could not land a decent job in Pakistan despite being educated and experienced. But looking at Pakistan now, the one I had left in 2010 was a much better Pakistan than today’s. I wouldn’t blame young and talented people trying to leave. Pakistan is a giant internship facility for those who are born there until they eventually leave, for good.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2023.

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