The last time when half the globe flocked to Delhi, the world was still monochrome. In March 1983, India welcomed leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement to the group's seventh summit, the first major multilateral meeting hosted by the country. It came at a geopolitically crucial time and was not without its share of controversies. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat threatened to leave the summit midway because he felt slighted after being asked to address the gathering only after the leader of the Jordanian delegation. Cuban president Fidel Castro hugged prime minister Indira Gandhi while handing over the conference gavel and not everyone in India took it in the right spirit. On more substantive issues, the Iran-Iraq war was threatening to upend the Middle East. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan, and India's neighbourhood emerged as a key theatre of the Cold War. Interestingly, 1983 was also the year India won the cricket World Cup for the first time.
Forty years later, India has lost enthusiasm for non-alignment, but not for global diplomacy and cricket. It is all set to host the latest edition of the World Cup and also the G20, a forum for strategic economic communication between the developed and developing countries. The Ukraine crisis will be a major talking point during the summit and the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin will not go unnoticed.
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