Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The capital of India is hosting from Wednesday evening an important meeting of foreign ministers of the member-states of the Group of 20 (G-20) economies in the backdrop of the recent conclave of these countries’ finance ministers and central bank chiefs in Bengaluru which ended without a consensus, or a joint communique, on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Diplomats and officials expect that a joint statement might be issued this time.
Besides, New Delhi will also host a key meeting of foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) nations, viz. the United States, India, and Australia (but Japan is skipping it.)
On the sidelines of the event, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is also expected to meet foreign ministers for bilateral talks.
The media reported that negotiators started in-person discussions ahead of this G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) as the Government of India prepared to receive foreign ministers and delegations from over 30 countries on Wednesday when the event begins with an inaugural dinner.
The FMM will be attended by the foreign ministers of almost all the G-20 countries, except Japan, whose Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is not coming because of “domestic parliamentary engagements.”
While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will arrive after the Wednesday dinner, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reached New Delhi on Tuesday. He will also take part in the Raisina Dialogue 2023. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DSA) Under Secretary General Li Junhua also arrived.
China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang will reach the Indian capital on Thursday. South Korea will send a junior minister to the meeting.
Among those who arrived here on Tuesday included the foreign ministers of Brazil (Mauro Vieira), Mauritius (Alan Ganoo), Turkiye (Mevlut Cavusoglu), Australia (Penny Wong), and the International Labour Organization Sherpa Richard Marc Samans.
After the inaugural welcome dinner on Wednesday evening, two sessions will be held on Thursday on the themes “Strengthening Multilateralism and Need for Reforms, Food and Energy Security, Development Cooperation” and “Counter-Terrorism: New and Emerging Threats.”
Recently, European Union’s Foreign Affairs chief Josep Borrell said that he would present a “strong picture” to Russia on its “blatant violation of international law and the UN charter.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would likely make a statement on the causes and “masterminds” of geopolitical problems. The Russian news agency TASS reported on Tuesday that Moscow would present an “unbiased picture” of the Nord Stream pipeline explosions. Lavrov has accused the US of being involved in the blasts.