Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has urged G20 Foreign Ministers to overcome their differences and focus on the needs of the developing world.
Modi urged them not to allow current tensions to destroy agreements that might be reached on food and energy security, climate change and debt.
“We are meeting at a time of deep global divisions. We have a responsibility to those not in this room,” he told the group, which included U.S. Secretary of State – Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister – Qin Gang and their Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
“We all have our positions and our perspectives on how these tensions should be resolved. We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can.”
Narendra Modi
In what seemed as an affirmation to fears that the increasingly bitter rift between the United States and its allies on one side and Russia and China on the other is likely to widen further, Modi said that “multilateralism is in crisis today.”
The Indian Prime Minister lamented that the two main goals of the post-World War II international order — preventing conflict and fostering cooperation, were elusive.
“The experience of the last two years, financial crisis, pandemic, terrorism and wars clearly shows that global governance has failed in both its mandates,” he averred.
Indian Foreign Minister, S. Jaishankar also addressed the group, telling them that they “must find a common ground and provide direction.”
India wants to use its G20 Presidency to raise issues of developing countries known as the Global South. However, divisions within the G20 over the Russia-Ukraine war are testing Indian diplomacy.
Last week, G20 Finance Ministers failed to reach a consensus on a closing statement at their meeting in Bangalore (Bengaluru) city, in the first ministerial meeting in the run up to the summit later this year.
It was left to India to release a chair’s summary which noted “different assessments of the situation” in Ukraine within the group. The Foreign Ministers’ talks are likely to face similar hurdles.
India Seeks To Fuel Its Global Ambitions
It was evident from Modi’s speech on Thursday, March 2, 2023, that India wanted to deliver agreements that could help the developing world and fuel its global ambitions.
“After years of progress, we are at risk today of moving back on the sustainable development goals. Many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debts while trying to ensure food and energy security.
“They are also most affected by global warming caused by richer countries. This is why India’s G20 presidency has tried to give a voice to the Global South.”
Narendra Modi
The G20, which includes the world’s 19 wealthiest nations and the European Union, accounts for 85% of global economic output and two-thirds of its population.
Delhi has resisted the pressure and continued with its strategy of not directly criticizing Russia, which is India’s largest supplier of arms.
Moreover, Delhi has regularly abstained from voting on UN resolutions condemning the war in Ukraine, including a vote held at the UN General Assembly last week.
It has also defended its decision to increase its oil imports from Russia, saying that it has to look after the needs of more than a billion people.
Nonetheless, Delhi has talked about the importance of “the UN Charter, international law, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states” in its past statements on Ukraine.
In addition to attending the G-20 and seeing Modi and Jaishankar individually on Thursday, Blinken met separately with the Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa, and was also scheduled to hold talks with the Foreign Ministers of the Netherlands and Mexico.
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