With a budget of more than $100 million to host the G20, the country hosted 200 pre-summit meetings in more than 50 cities, with yoga sessions, cultural performances and menus designed especially for the event.

For months, Indian news channels covered the events in dizzying fashion, aiming to capture the attention of even those normally immune to the nuances of foreign policy.

With two days left before the major summit, the capital Delhi is gearing up for what is considered to be the most prestigious event held in India in years.

Fountain statues, flower pots and Indian flags are installed all over the city. Dozens of historical monuments have been illuminated with the peak's logo and people flocked to take selfies. The city's famous park was renovated, its foliage freshly pruned, and flags of participating countries displayed.

But there is another side to beauty campaigns. Temporary fabric walls were erected in front of many slum areas to hide them from view, and in some cases residents were relocated. The beggars were expelled from the city center – it is unclear where exactly they were moved.

The government declared a three-day holiday for most schools and offices, closed main roads and deployed thousands of security officers to anticipate the incident. Hundreds of flights and trains have been cancelled.

India has never hosted so many world leaders at the same time.

“India is trying to blur the lines between foreign affairs and domestic politics, and the G20 is the most important forum to achieve this. The government is aware of this,” said Jitendra Nath Misra, a former Indian ambassador.

Despite the carnivalesque atmosphere, Delhi will have a difficult task to ensure that issues such as the war in Ukraine – which caused deep divisions within the group at last year's G20 summit in Bali – do not derail its ambitions.

“India hopes that the focus will be on feel-good issues rather than divisive issues like Ukraine. “So far India has not been successful, but India wants to perform better now,” he said, Misra said.

Since becoming president of the G20, India has stated that it wants to include issues that disproportionately impact developing countries on the agenda, namely climate change, increasing countries' debt burdens, digital transformation, rising inflation, and food and energy security.

The summit comes at a time when “Southern countries” have managed to assert themselves as major players in the international order and when Western countries understand that “their exclusive club cannot solve the world's problems,” said Happymon Jacob. , a foreign policy professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

Faced with rising inequality, high food and fuel prices and climate change, many countries are now questioning the relevance of Western-dominated forums such as the G20, which they say focuses on global electricity distribution as outdated.

According to Mr Jacob, this was especially visible during the pandemic, when India helped countries in Africa, South Asia and even China, “while Western countries just looked after themselves- the same”.

Going forward, there must be a “convergence point” between the two hemispheres – and India hopes to propose this at the summit.

“The message to the national community and the countries of the South is that we are with you and we are ready to lead. And to the international community, you must not ignore the concerns emerging from countries around the world hit by this crisis. Indian leadership,” added Mr. Jacob.

Misra, for example, said the proposal to include the African Union in the G20 reflects India's desire to support developing countries.

Since India is one of the brightest economic centers in the world, it also believes that it has the strength and means to achieve this.

But the quest to become a potential bridge between developed and developing countries will not be easy for the Delhi government, which remains in a difficult geopolitical position.

He will also be under pressure to do so at the domestic level, given the huge investment he has made in promoting the G20 summit under Modi's leadership. He wants to show his success in strengthening India's position in the eyes of the world, especially ahead of next year's elections.

Traditionally, foreign policy has not played a big role in Indian electoral politics except when it comes to neighboring countries – such as Pakistan or China – or the United States in recent years.

But this is changing under Modi: Indians are ambitious, they care about their image in the eyes of the world, just like Modi.

“He has positioned himself as a global statesman. A large and successful G20 event will add to that image,” said Jacob.

Misra added that despite the disruption of the summit by Ukraine, people “will view the G20 Summit as an event that strengthens India's reputation internationally.”

But Modi has a lot of work to do in the country – creating jobs for millions of people, for example.

Then there are questions about human rights. Opposition parties and activists say there has been an increase in hate crimes against Muslims and other groups since 2014, when Modi came to power. But his government denies the allegations and says its policies are inclusive of all Indians.

This is the message Modi wants to convey to his countrymen and abroad during the summit.