G20 Syria divide: World’s largest nations speak out against US-led strike

G20 Syria divide: World’s largest nations speak out against US-led strike

RT - September 06, 2013

  

Group photographs of the heads of the delegations of the BRICS countries. From left: President of the Federative Republic of Brazil Dilma Vana Rousseff, Prime Minister of the Republic of India Manmohan Singh, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and President of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma (RIA Novosti / Igor Russak)

As leaders of countries making up half of the world’s population firmly opposed military action against Syria without a UN mandate, the US kept pushing for a strike, claiming that many countries represented at the G20 summit were “comfortable” with it.

Although discussion of the Syrian conflict was never officially on the G20 agenda, world leaders used their statements and speeches to outline their stance on a possible US-led military strike against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed the notion that there was a 50/50 split of opinion on the issue, alluding that leaders of the majority of the world’s largest economies clearly stated their opposition to military intervention in Syria.

Russia, China, India, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa were among the countries that openly spoke out against military action not authorized by the UN Security Council, Putin revealed.

Putin himself said that he believes the alleged chemical weapons attack was nothing more than “a provocation on behalf of the armed insurgents in hope of the help from the outside, from the countries which supported them from day one.” 

Taking a stand against a US-led strike

During his closing speech at the G20 summit, the Russian President pointed out that the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation – Indonesia – was among those “categorically opposed” to a strike against Syria.

Indonesia has been calling on the international community to refrain from extrajudicial justice on Syria, and to wait until UN investigators publish the results of their work.

“Indonesia’s stance is clear. President Yudhoyono has said that, while affirming that the use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians cannot be accepted, we need to ensure who actually carried out the attacks. In this sense, we should wait for the UN’s inspection team to announce the result of its investigation,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in a statement published on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s official website.

“International responses should not lead to more and worse humanitarian problems. The misery of the Syrian people has been too long and we need to ensure there is no military approach used, but instead peaceful diplomatic measures must be utilized to settle the problems,” Natalegawa added. 

China has consistently opposed a military solution for the Syrian crisis, joining Russia in its belief that any action must be based on the UN investigation and authorized by the UN Security Council.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang told RT at the summit that it is “vitally important” that any move on Syria be based on the UN investigation, stressing that China is “against the use of chemical weapons by any countries or organizations.”

“China and Russia are both appealing to the countries concerned to be serious about the possible consequences of the use of military means without the mandate of the UN Security Council,” Qin added, reminding that recent history has shown that such means “can’t solve a complicated issue like Syria.”

Meanwhile, China’s vice finance minister, Zhu Guangyao, has warned that a strike would have a negative impact on the global economy and “cause a hike in the oil price.” 

Other members of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies – Brazil, India and South Africa – also voiced their firm opposition to the possibility of a US-led military strike.

Any action on Syria should be taken within the UN framework, and only after the UN releases the results of the chemical weapons investigation, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed.

While condemning the use of chemical weapons by any party, Singh told G20 leaders that one needs to be certain what has really happened in Syria, according to Indian Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who spoke to reporters at the summit. 

South African President Jacob Zuma slammed the idea of a military intervention in Syria on the eve of the summit, saying that one cannot “remain silent when one country is being bombed to ashes before our eyes.”

Zuma stressed that the UN is “the only authority that can intervene militarily in any country,” in his speech earlier this week.

“We don’t want the world to be run by individuals, but a collective in the form of the UN. I don't know if people who are questioning our position on Syria have an alternative,” Zuma said. 

President Putin on Friday quoted his South African counterpart as saying that the world’s smaller countries feel “increasingly vulnerable and insecure” with the notion that a more powerful nation can “at any time and at its own discretion use force against them.”

In this regard, a military strike outside of a UN Security Council resolution would set a dangerous precedent, Putin warned.

“The use of force on a sovereign state is only possible if it is done for self-defense – and, as we know, Syria is not attacking the US – or under a decision made by the UN Security Council. As one participant in our discussion said, those who act otherwise put themselves outside of law,” Putin said.

Against military strike	Population	For military strike	Population
Russia	143,400,000	US	316,597,000
China	1,353,821,000	Turkey	75,627,384
India	1,210,193,422	Canada	33,476,688
Indonesia	237,424,363	Saudi Arabia	29,195,895
Argentina	41,660,417	France	65,350,000
Brazil	201,032,714	Australia	23,173,142
South Africa	52,981,991	Japan	126,659,683
		Republic of Korea	50,219,669
		UK	63,181,775
		Italy	59,685,227
TOTAL	3,240,513,907		843,166,463
*Germany has decided to stay neutral *EU, a full member of the G20, does not take a unified stand yet

The following link has more of that story.

http://rt.com/news/g20-against-syria-strike-527/