G20: EAM Jaishankar says India can bring sides closer

Narendra Modi will host the G-20 summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10 next year

India has a “middle-ground” and it can bring “different parties” to the table, although it has taken over the G20 presidency in a “very polarised” world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government celebrated the start of India’s G20 presidency with much fanfare on Thursday, his external affairs minister provided a reality check. “Our G20 Presidency is taking place at a very critical moment in international affairs. It is particularly vital that world leaders focus on the right issues, especially those that affect the more vulnerable sections of the world,” Jaishankar said at a “University Connect” event, which virtually brought together students from 75 campuses across the country.

He recalled the 17th summit of the G20, which was held at Bali in Indonesia last month and was overshadowed by the tension between the western nations, led by the United States, and Russia over the former Soviet Union nation’s military aggression against Ukraine.

“World is very polarised. Even having everybody in the room was a real challenge in the last G20 meeting in Bali. Country-like India which is independent-minded has a middle-ground to bring different parties to the table,” Jaishankar said, adding that the polarisation might occur elsewhere in the world, but people in the global south suffered the most. “Our intentions would be to get leaders on what a large part of the world thinks,” he said, adding that India must become the voice of the under-represented global south.

Modi will host the G20 summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10 next year.

“We share too the apprehension that sustainable development, climate action and climate justice could be sidetracked due to more dominant issues,” Jaishankar said. “India has to take the lead in pushing for collective action and that is exactly what we intend to do at G20.”

The ‘University Connect’ event was held to mark the commencement of India’s G20 presidency. Jaishankar was joined by Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, P K Mishra, who said that India’s one-year term as the president of the premier forum for international economic and financial cooperation was an opportunity to present the diversity of the nation to the outside world. “The real asset of our nation is its people. G20-related activities during our Presidency, therefore, rightly focus on this partnership. Holding the meeting in 56 different locations in the country will ensure that the pan-India nature of the event is truly showcased.”

The Hornbill Festival in Kohima on Thursday featured a special focus on G20. One hundred monuments, including some UNESCO world heritage sites, across the country, were specially illuminated to celebrate the start of India’s G20 presidency.