India's responsibility to bring divided world together, Jaishankar says ahead of G20 summit

It is India’s responsibility to bring the divided world together, EAM S Jaishankar said on Thursday, ahead of the 18th G20 summit, which will be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10 amid increasing geopolitical tension over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

It is India’s responsibility to bring the divided world together, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, ahead of the 18th G20 summit, which will be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10 amid increasing geopolitical tension over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“The world is divided into developed countries in the North and developing countries in the South, and due to the Ukraine war, countries are being polarised into East and West,” Jaishankar said addressing students at the Hindu College in Delhi.

“We are in the middle of all this, so it is our responsibility to bring the divided world together,” he added, amid preparations in New Delhi to welcome the leaders of the G20 for the summit, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The tension between Moscow and the Western nations over Russia’s “special military operations” in Ukraine already cast its long shadow over India’s G20 presidency, which commenced in December 2022. Russia and China blocked the joint communiques, which were expected to be issued after the G20 meetings hosted by India over the past few months. India had to issue chair summaries after almost all the meetings, clarifying that Russia and China had not endorsed the paragraphs condemning Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.

The last G20 Summit at Bali in Indonesia in November 2022 had also been overshadowed by the Western nations’ tirade against Russia for its military aggression against Ukraine.

India does not want the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the top of the agenda of the 18th G20 summit. It has been underlining that the priority for its presidency has been leading the premier forum for international economic cooperation to focus on developmental issues, inclusive and sustainable growth, gender equality, finances from multilateral institutions for accelerated development and transition to clean energy, mitigating the impact of climate change, reforming multilateral financial institutions and technological transformation.

“The Ukraine war has also created many problems for the world. This has affected fuel prices, availability and prices of food grains and availability and prices of fertilisers, thereby impacting the global economy,” said the external affairs minister.

“The world is struggling with challenges like good health, good education, good nutrition, good water, good energy and environmental change. India's presidency of G20 is very important in this period.”

He also said that India's presidency of the G20 had exceptional expectations and responsibilities.