G20: Bitter Over Ukraine, Nations Fail To Arrive At Joint Statement; Agree On Development Goals

NEW DELHI, (ANI) – India External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on March 2 said that G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting reflected the concerns of the global south. The meeting, held under the presidency of India, reflected the bitterness that surrounds nations since the Ukraine war. As a result, an Outcome document and not a collective statement was issued.

“If we had perfect meetings of minds on all issues and captured it fully, it would have been a collective statement but there were issues on which there were divergences…There were differences on the Ukraine issue which we could not reconcile,” Jaishankar said at a press conference here. He said on the bulk of the issues which concern the Global South, the developing countries, there was a considerable meeting of minds.

Paragraphs three and four of the Outcome documents were taken from the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration and were agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Affairs head China’s Qin Gang were all present in Delhi.  It also provided a forum for the first face-to-face meeting of the top US and Russian diplomats since the war began. And for Jaishankar to convey to Qin Gang that the current state of the bilateral relationship was “abnormal” in the context of challenges, especially that of peace and tranquility in the border areas.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking in English, opened the session, warning that global divisions were putting sustainable development at risk.

“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,” he warned.

Under India’s presidency, the group in various sessions addressed food security, development cooperation, terrorism, and humanitarian assistance.