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G20 presidency centred on Global South, put focus on growth: Jaishankar
India’s G20 presidency was Global South centric and had brought development back on the agenda, says external affairs minister S Jaishankar during virtual G20 leaders’ summit on Wednesday
New Delhi India’s G20 presidency was Global South centric and had brought development back on the agenda, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said after a virtual summit of the grouping on Wednesday, adding that many world leaders spoke on the West Asia turmoil and the need to extend timely humanitarian assistance and finding a long-term solution.
At the joint press briefing, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman noted how the five main agenda points of the G20 finance track -- multilateral development bank (MDB) reforms, digital public infrastructure, the road map for crypto assets, climate finance, and financing of cities of tomorrow -- were welcomed and appreciated. India’s G20 sherpa Amitabh Kant underlined how several aspects of the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration announced this September were being implemented domestically as well as internationally.
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“ [There was] A very clear recognition India’s G20 presidency was Global South centric and brought development ….back to the centre of G20,” he said.
At the virtual meeting, Russian president Vladimir Putin blamed western countries for the stress in the global economy even as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Putin to end the war on Ukraine and withdraw all troops from the country.
At the press conference, Jaishankar said two geopolitical issues that came up were the conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine.
“What we heard really was the condemnation of terrorism, expression of deep concern over the loss of civilian lives, calls for extending timely and adequate humanitarian assistance, not allowing the conflict to spread and to find a long term solution to the Palestine issue,” Jaishankar said.
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The G20 members on the whole welcomed the understanding reached on the release of hostages, on the flow of relief material to Gaza and some pause in the fighting, he said.”Overall there was a strong sentiment expressed by the leaders to ensure implementation of the commitments which were agreed to at Delhi,” he said.
Sitharaman said there was “overwhelming appreciation and keenness” to take forward the agenda points of the G20 finance track during the next presidency.
“Several MDBs are already exploring options of collaborating with each other in areas such as innovative finance. The international expert group’s report has been welcomed. Many aspects of it are already set on course, and the boards are taking it up for each of the banks,” she added.
The finance minister noted how India’s efforts to explore ways of improving efficiency and making the 12 MDBs more 21st century-ready was taking shape.
“The US administration has asked the Congress to increase World Bank financing by more than $25 billion and Germany has pledged 305 million euros of hybrid capital that can be used by the World Bank to have additional lending of 2.4 billion euros over the next 10 years,” she said.
Kant said many aspects of the September 2023 declaration would be carried forward by Brazil, which takes over the G20 presidency on December 1. “Since G20 works in continuity, our focus since September 9-10 has been on implementation. Brazil’s theme is to build a fair world and a sustainable future. And under that most of what we have announced in the New Delhi Leaders; Declaration, we’ll push for implementation under Brazil’s presidency,” Kant said.
At the meeting, Putin said the stress in the global economy is associated with the actions of other major countries and not with Russia and its attempts to obtain “justice” in Ukraine.
“The great stress experienced by the global economy is the direct consequence of the ill-considered macroeconomic policy of certain states,” Putin said while virtually addressing the G20 meeting.
“Yes, of course, military actions are always a tragedy for specific people, specific families and the country as a whole,” he said. “And, of course, we must think about how to stop this tragedy.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he urged Putin to end Moscow’s war on Ukraine and withdraw all troops from the country. “I called on President Putin to end his attack on Ukraine and withdraw troops from Ukraine’s territory, so that this war can finally end,” Scholz told journalists at a press conference in Berlin alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Putin’s virtual presence at the G20 summit was “easy” because he did not have to leave Moscow, said Meloni, who also participated in the virtual meeting. Meloni welcomed Putin’s offer to work towards peace in Ukraine but added “we must not forget that in Ukraine there is an aggressor and a (party that was) attacked.”
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and China’s Premier Li Qiang represented their countries at the virtual summit.
