India to support Indonesia for G20 Summit amid differences over Russia
Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa who led an official delegation to the third G20 sherpa meeting under Indonesia’s G20 presidency, conveyed New Delhi’s support.
NEW DELHI: India has conveyed its active support to Indonesia to “finalise meaningful outcomes” at the upcoming G20 Summit against the backdrop of sharp divisions within the grouping over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
New Delhi’s support was expressed by Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa who led an official delegation to the third G20 sherpa meeting under Indonesia’s G20 presidency that was held in Yogyakarta during September 26-29.
At the deliberations, Kant “reaffirmed India’s commitment and active support to Indonesian presidency’s efforts to finalise meaningful outcomes for the forthcoming G20 Bali Summit in November 2022”, the external affairs ministry said in a statement on Friday.
During discussions at the G20 sherpa meeting and with counterparts from various countries on the prevailing geopolitical situation in the context of G20, Kant highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement of September 16 that “today’s era is not of war [and] diplomacy and dialogue are things that touch the world”.
Modi made these remarks at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Uzbekistan. He nudged Putin to end the war and said the Russian president would have to consider the problem of food and energy security faced by developing countries in the wake of the conflict.
Kant also emphasised the need for G20 to “bring enhanced global focus on and strengthen international cooperation and efforts in key priority areas”.
These areas include sustainable growth, accelerated progress on SDGs, addressing climate change including through India’s concept of Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE), tech-enabled development, digital public infrastructure, multilateral reforms and women’s empowerment.
On the sidelines of the G20 sherpa meeting, Amitabh Kant held bilateral interactions with his sherpa counterparts from Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, the UK and the US.
“India’s constructive interventions infused greater positivity and optimism in G20 deliberations, further strengthening the collective resolve to address prevailing global challenges effectively,” the external affairs ministry said.
The G20, which groups the world’s 20 largest economies, remains sharply divided over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Representatives of several members have walked out when meetings were addressed by Russian officials. Several members have also called for Russia to be ejected from the G20.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo was the first Asian leader to visit both Russia and Ukraine as part of efforts to end the conflict. Indonesia has invited Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the G20 Summit in November.
The first G20 sherpa meeting under the Indonesian presidency was held in December 2021, and the second in July. India is set to take over the G20 presidency in December and host the next summit in New Delhi in 2023.