Stage is all set for the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting under India’s presidency in New Delhi, The two day meeting will take off today (Thursday, March 1, 2023) with a gala networking dinner.
Also, through the day External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from not only the G20 member nations, but also from guest countries. According to Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra “On the sidelines there will be bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of other countries.”
Financial Express Online has reported that the first session for the G20 FMM will focus on the need for reforms of multilateral bodies, strengthening multilateralism, food and energy security as well as development cooperation.
The second session is all set to focus on counter-terrorism and emerging threats, and also on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and global skill mapping.
To watch out for
The Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will not be attending the FMM which is being hosted by India under its presidency this year. To a question related to the Japanese Foreign Minister, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said at a special briefing that he was not able to come because of his domestic compulsions. Adding, that India is looking forward to an active participation and support in consultation with the Japanese delegation which is coming to New Delhi.
The meeting will be attended by foreign ministers of all the G20 members, specially invited guest countries and 13 international organizations.
Important bilateral meetings to look out for
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, France’s Catherine Colonna, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock and Foreign Minister of Brazil (Brazil will hold the G20 presidency next year).
Special guest countries have also sent their foreign ministers to attend the meeting—including UAE, Spain, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, and Mauritius among others.
The venue for the meeting on Thursday is Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Center. And the discussions will focus on six important issues in two sessions.
The meeting is taking place days after the G20 Finance Ministers meeting where they failed to agree on a joint communiqué as there was no consensus related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
It is not an era of war
For India it will be a tightrope diplomatic walk.
The Russia-Ukraine issue will be an important point of discussion. The focus will clearly be on the situation between the two countries which are at war, the understanding among the G20 member countries, and the impact of the ongoing war on the world.
India is very clear that the FMs should focus on the priorities on the agenda.
Since the war began last year between Russia and Ukraine, this will be the US Secretary of State’s first visit to India and for the Russian minister Lavrov this will be his second visit in one year, the first one was last April.
This will be the first visit of the new appointed Chinese Foreign Minister Qin. His predecessor Wang Yi had come to India last March.
At the end of the G20 FM meeting several ministers will take part in the Raisina Dialogue which is hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Statements issued by Russia and the UK ahead of G20 highlight divisions
An official statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of Britain, has stated that UK foreign secretary James Cleverly will continue to call out Russian aggression in Ukraine at the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting under the India presidency. And, he will urge the partners old and new to tackle the most urgent global challenges.
The statement has also emphasized that even if the Ukraine war was to end today “the effects of the exacerbated food insecurity would still run into 2027”.
Late Tuesday evening the Russian Foreign minister landed in New Delhi. And a strongly worded statement issued by the foreign ministry in Moscow has sought to blame the US and its allies for the crisis in Ukraine. And stated that the action of the US and its allies “has put the world on a brink of a disaster, seriously aggravated the situation of the poorest countries and provoked a rollback in socio-economic development and seriously aggravated the situation of the poorest countries”.
The statement from Moscow refers to the situation in Ukraine as a “special military operation”. In reference to the Western sanctions imposed on Russia including the recent price cap which has been imposed by the G7 countries on Russian oil, the statement added: “suffering from the cynical revelry of illegal sanctions, the artificial breakup of cross-border supply chains, the imposition of notorious price ceilings and, in effect, from attempts to steal natural resources”.
All eyes on tonight’s networking dinner
All eyes are on the networking dinner tonight which is being hosted by external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar which will have G20 foreign ministers as well as nine guest countries. This dinner is expected to set the stage for the discussions tomorrow.
There were reports that in Bali the G7 countries had boycotted a similar dinner in July 2022 as the Russian foreign minister lunch Diplomatic circles are closely watching a networking reception and dinner to be hosted on March 1 by external affairs minister S Jaishankar for his G20 counterparts and nine guest countries, as Sergey Lavrov was present there.
According to people familiar with the G20 meetings the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the US are arriving on Thursday morning just ahead of the meeting.