The meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers in New Delhi was marred by the war of words between the western nations and Russia over the former Soviet Union nation’s “special military operations” in Ukraine.
The conclave, hosted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, failed to reach a consensus on the joint communiqué, as Russia and China objected to two paragraphs, which condemned the former Soviet Union nation’s military aggression against Ukraine and took note of its adverse impact on the global economy.
Jaishankar later released the Chair’s Summary and Outcome Document, which incorporated the two paragraphs but made it clear that they were not approved by Russia and China.
The Foreign Ministers of all the G20 nations, however, reached a consensus on a range of issues, like strengthening multilateralism, food and energy security, dealing with climate change and protecting biodiversity, global health, development cooperation, new and emerging technologies, counterterrorism and counternarcotics cooperation, global skill mapping, humanitarian assistance and disaster risk reduction.
“The bulk of the issues, which are concerning developing countries, I think, were very satisfactorily addressed,” Jaishankar told journalists after releasing the Chair’s Summary and Outcome Document. “I mean, it's not like we can produce, give instantaneous solutions, but I think the thinking, the policy prescriptions, the commitments, the mindset were all absolutely in the right direction.”
He said that the meeting of the G20 foreign ministers failed to reach a consensus on the particular issue of the Russia-Ukraine conflict “because of very polarized views of some countries”. “So, I would urge you really to look on the fact that substantively, substantively on the key development issues - issues of debt, issues of finance, issues of food, issues of fuel, issues of health, issues of climate, in fact, this meeting was able to get everybody around the table and as I said, you know, this is no easy task given the state of polarization in the world.”
This was the second ministerial meeting held after India had taken over the G20 presidency in December 2022. The last ministerial conclave – Meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors – had commenced in Bengaluru on February 24 and concluded on February 25, similarly without the adoption of a joint communiqué.
“We must continue to call on Russia to end its war of aggression and withdraw from Ukraine for the sake of international peace and economic stability,” the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said during the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, leading the western nations in the tirade against the former Soviet Union nation.
He also urged China not to supply lethal weapons to Russia. “It (China) cannot publicly present itself as a force for peace, while, in one way or another, it continues to fan the flames of the fire that (Russian President) Vladimir Putin lit.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov countered the attack and made an attempt to turn the table on the western nations.
“I would like to apologize to the Indian chairmanship and our colleagues from the countries of the Global South for the improper behaviour of some western delegations that turned the work on the G20 agenda into a farce in an attempt to shift the blame for their economic failures primarily to Russia,” Lavrov said.