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Jaishankar to visit Indonesia this week for G20 meeting
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba will participate in the ministerial meeting virtually as a special invitee.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar is set to come face to face this week with his counterparts from China, Russia and the US at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Indonesia, which will focus on global challenges such as food and fuel shortages created by the Ukraine crisis.
This will be the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February that all four foreign ministers will be at the same venue, though there was no confirmation on Tuesday about bilateral meetings between Jaishankar and his counterparts.
Jaishankar will visit Bali on July 7-8 to participate in the G20 ministerial meeting, as part of preparations for the summit of leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies to be hosted by Indonesia in November.
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Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba will participate in the ministerial meeting virtually as a special invitee.
The participating foreign ministers will discuss “issues of contemporary relevance, such as strengthening multilateralism and current global challenges, including food and energy security”, the external affairs ministry said in a statement. Jaishankar is expected to hold several bilateral meetings with counterparts from G20 states and invited countries, it said without giving details.
People familiar with the matter said bilateral meetings on the margins of the G20 ministerial meet are still being locked down.
Jaishankar’s participation in the meeting will strengthen India’s engagement with G20 members. “As a G20 troika member and as the incoming G20 presidency, India’s role in the upcoming FMM discussions assumes even greater importance,” the statement said.
India has extended support to Indonesia’s presidency of G20 and will take forward discussions on contemporary global challenges to achieve meaningful outcomes during the Indian presidency of the bloc in 2023, it added.
The US state department said secretary of state Antony Blinken Secretary will hold bilateral meetings with Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.
Also read: India balanced in handling Ukraine crisis: Jaishankar
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has cast a shadow on G20 proceedings, with some Western member states threatening a boycott if President Vladimir Putin attends the summit in November. US, British and Canadian officials walked out of a G20 finance meeting in April over the presence of Russian officials.
Indonesia has sought to strike a balance by inviting the Russian and Ukrainian presidents to the summit. Last month, Indonesian president Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, became the first Asian leader to visit both Ukraine and Russia since the beginning of the conflict as part of efforts to rekindle peace talks and to address the global food crisis.
Jokowi travelled to Kyiv on June 29 and met president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, before going to Moscow the next day for talks with Putin. Jokowi delivered a message from Zelenskyy to Putin, who agreed to open a sea route for Ukrainian wheat exports.
