New Delhi, India: The Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers conference will focus heavily on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but host India is sure that the economic issues brought on by the conflict will receive equal attention, according to the country’s foreign secretary.
“Yes, given the nature and the developing situation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it will be an important point of discussion,” Mr. Vinay Kwatra, India’s top diplomat, told as foreign ministers arrived in New Delhi for the meeting.
“Questions relating to food, energy and fertiliser security, the impact that the conflict has on these economic challenges that we face”, among others, would also receive “due focus”, Mr. Kwatra remarked.
There will be 40 delegations at the summit, including Chinese Foreign Minister Mr. Qin Gang, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Russian Foreign Minister Mr. Sergey Lavrov.
Russia, China, India, Brazil, Australia, and Saudi Arabia are among the countries that make up the G20, which accounts for over 85 percent of the global economy and two-thirds of the global population. The G20 also includes the rich G7 countries.
The event comes after a meeting of the bloc’s finance ministers in Bangalore last month, where they argued over whether to denounce Russia for the conflict but ultimately opted for a brief statement rather than a united declaration. The result was comparable to that of a G20 summit held in Bali in November of last year, where the host Indonesia similarly released a concluding statement that acknowledged differences.