This week, foreign ministers from around the world convene in New Delhi amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and rising U.S.-China tensions. India hopes to address climate change and Third World debt.
The G20 foreign ministers will meet on March 1-2, days after the bloc’s finance leaders met in Bengaluru. They argued about sanctioning Russia for the war and opted for a quick resolution.
The G20 conference in Bali last November similarly ended with a communiqué acknowledging disagreements.
Since the West loudly condemned the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov left a G20 foreign ministers conference in Bali last July.
Lavrov, Blinken, Cleverly, and China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, will attend the New Delhi summit. Forty nations, including India-invited non-G20 members and multilateral organizations, will attend.
The G20 comprises Russia, China, India, Australia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and the rich G7 democracies.
The Quad foreign ministers—the US, India, Australia, and Japan—will meet on the margins.
An Indian foreign ministry source who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to talk to the media said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration wanted to focus this week’s summit on climate change and developing nations’ debt.
The person claimed Ukraine would top the agenda, but India does not want it to. “New Delhi intends to continue playing the voice of the Global South and raise concerns vital to the region,” the official said.
Ramin Toloui, U.S. assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, said Blinken would highlight U.S. food and energy security initiatives for developing nations.
Toloui told reporters before Blinken’s journey to the summit that the U.S. top diplomat would “underscore the harm that Russia’s campaign of aggression has inflicted” and encourage other governments to redouble efforts for Moscow to cease the conflict.
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