External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said India’s G20 presidency succeeded in getting the focus of the grouping back on the issues faced by the global south without diminishing the seriousness of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its consequences.

Addressing a press conference after the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting here, Mr Jaishankar said the ‘G20 Action Plan on Accelerating Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’ and ‘G20 High Level Principles on Lifestyles for Sustainable Development’ were unanimously approved at the meeting.

“Right now our focus is how do you address the pressing needs of the developing countries, the small island developing states, the least developed countries, those who are really teetering on the edge of an abyss,” Mr Jaishankar told reporters.

The minister said last year, it was understandable that the focus of the G20 was more on immediate issues pertaining to the conflict, but a narrative took root over time that the conflict and its repercussions should not obfuscate the real concerns and pain points of the global south.

He said there were countries who cannot afford food, running short of fuel and India’s neighbours were among those who have suffered a lot in the last year. 

“We are in no way diminishing the seriousness of the conflict and its consequences. But the conflict was dealt with through an agreed understanding at Bali. That was an understanding of the leaders,” S Jaishankar said.

He said the meeting on Monday got the G20 to look at sustainable development growth and look at what was happening with the global south, think about financing for them, think of climate financing, look at the link between development and financing, look at women’s issues, education, digital.

“These are the real issues of the world. In that sense yes, I think we got the spotlight on these issues,” Mr Jaishankar said.

An outcome document of the meeting said the development ministers agreed to the 14-points, barring the reference to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Russia dissociated itself from the status of the document as a common outcome because of references to para 10 and 11, which referred to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

China stated that the meeting outcome should not include any reference to the Ukraine crisis, the chair’s summary of the proceedings stated.

Asked to comment on the Russian delegation’s remarks at the meeting, Mr Jaishankar said “every delegation spoke for its interest and its outlook”.

“Some countries may be closer to others, but I would not get into this ‘who supported whom and who did not support’. I don’t think that is helpful. I think the fairest description is ‘everybody spoke for themselves’,” the minister said.

“And my job as chair was to find the common elements and put it together and that is the document that is there before you,” Mr Jaishankar said. (NDTV)

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Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar is all set to host the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting on Monday, all preparation has been put in place and security has been kept on high alert as this is the first major international event after Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was scrapped in 2019.

For this three-day G20 Summit, from May 22-24, Kashmir is under a three-tier security grid for aerial surveillance drone monitoring is put in place National Security Guard (NSG) and MARCOS commandos are being deployed around the venue Jammu and Kashmir Police’s special operation group (SOG) will be deployed at several places to give security cover to prevent from any terror incident.

Srinagar city’s walls and roads are decorated to welcome delegates. The people of Kashmir are also ready to welcome the G20 summit meetings held in Srinagar which boosts the tourism and business sector in Kashmir.

While there will be no restrictions on public movement public in Srinagar all shops and business establishments are open to welcome the G20 summit guest. People from different sectors welcome the delegates and believe that this G20 summit meeting give a boost to the development of Jammu and Kashmir in all fields and boost the tourism sector on an international level which boosts the economy of the Union Territory.

Time and again Pakistan has shown strong discontent at New Delhi’s intention to convene the G20 Tourism Working Group conference in Kashmir.

Rejecting Pakistan’s criticism, India had said G20 meetings are being organized in the entire country and hence it is “natural” to hold meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as “these are inalienable parts of India.”

Pakistan recently slammed India’s decision to host a G20 meeting in Srinagar and parts of Kashmir as an “irresponsible move”.

“G20 meetings are being organized in entire India, in all cities and parts of India. It is therefore natural to hold the meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh because these are inalienable parts of India,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Official Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during the MEA Weekly Media Briefing.

“That is what I would like to say. The meetings are being held in all parts of India, that is our natural response,” the MEA official spokesperson said.

As of now, the G20 Working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir will focus on five key priority areas: Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management.

The meeting aims to strengthen economic growth, preserve cultural heritage and promote sustainable development of the region.

The event will witness the participation of G20 member countries, invited countries, international organizations, and industry stakeholders. (ANI)

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China has opposed the holding of a G20 meeting in Kashmir, while Turkey and Saudi Arabia have not registered for the event to be held in Srinagar.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that “China firmly opposes holding G20 meetings in any form in ‘disputed’ areas and will not attend such meetings.”

India countered the objection by saying it is free to hold meetings on its own territory. It said peace and tranquility on its border is essential for normal ties with China.

The 3rd G20 Tourism Working Group meeting will be held on May 22-24 in Srinagar amid heightened security in the region.

This is the first major international event in Jammu and Kashmir since its special status was scrapped in 2019 and it was bifurcated into two union territories.

Around 60 delegates from G20 countries are expected to attend the meeting in Srinagar. earlier it was expected that over 100 delegates would attend the meet.

Sources say Turkey has decided to stay away from the meeting, and Saudi Arabia has not registered for the event so far.

Srinagar is under an unprecedented security blanket. Marine commandos and National Security Guards (NSG) have been deployed in the region as part of the ground-to-air security cover.

Marines, also known as Marcos, have taken over the security of Dal Lake, around the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), the venue for the G20 meeting. NSG commandos have been conducting area domination exercises along with police and paramilitary forces. On Thursday, NSG carried out searches at Lal Chowk.

Paramilitary troops were seen entering the houseboats and carrying out searches.

Houseboats are made of wood, including cedar, and have exquisite wood carvings. They represent the culture and age-old tradition of Kashmir.

Officials say the G20 event in Srinagar is to showcase Kashmir’s tourism potential and also send a message to the world that it is an integral part of the country.

The participation of member countries of the world’s most powerful club is seen as an endorsement of India’s stand.

Security forces have inputs that terrorists may try to carry out some major attack to disrupt the G20 event. Massive security operations are being carried out to prevent any such attempt. Army, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Jammu and Kashmir Police are part of the security grid in the region. (NDTV)

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Australia strongly supports India’s G-20 presidency because of its understanding of the need to deliver equitable, sustainable growth across the world, High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell said on Monday.

In an interview with ANI, Farrell said, “Why the G-20 is so important this year and one of the reasons that Australia so strongly supports India’s G-20 presidency is because of its understanding of the need to deliver equitable, sustainable growth across the world.”

“And India’s focus on sustainable development goals as part of its G-20 presidency is something that Australia welcomes, something that Australia is working hard within the G-20 this year to help India achieve it,” he added.

Talking about the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Australia’s High Commissioner said that his country is very clear and they condemn Moscow’s invasion.

The war is not only costing lives in Ukraine and in Russia but it’s also added to the economic challenges across the world.

In the recent report of Defence Strategic Review 2023, Australia stated that its country needs to expand its relationships and practical cooperation with key powers, including India, and invest in regional architecture.

Over that report, Farrell said, “The great thing about our Defense Review is that it again highlights that India and Australia are the two largest coastlines that exist within the Indo-Pacific, and it calls for greater cooperation, greater collaboration, greater exercises, and greater commitment. And the good news is that’s happening.”

“My Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Defence Minister was the first minister to visit India after the change of government, last year. He met with Rajnath Singh and committed to further ongoing exercises between both our countries, recognizing that we had a role to play in ensuring that our navies worked and defence forces worked closely together,” he added.

The Australian High Commissioner to India further stated that over the past 12 months, people have seen various Australian military heads coming to India.

India and Australia are also seeing more joint exercises designed to improve the cooperation between both countries’ militaries so that whether an emergency like the tsunami from which the Quad grew, both would be better able to look after the region, he added. (ANI)

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Organising events related to G-20 in J&K is seen as an opportunity for the Central Government to unambiguously reiterate once again that J&K is, and will always remain, an integral part of India.

Hosting international events such as the G-20 summit in a state like Jammu and Kashmir can be a reward that helps to promote economic corridors and showcase India’s achievements in the previously turmoiled region. The visit of the Group of 20 countries to Kashmir is like reentering paradise, which was hit by terrorism and was put under political and economic deadlock. Therefore, the presence of the G-20 can inspire people to move forward.

Given Pakistan’s over-obsession with Kashmir, its vociferous objection to India hosting a G-20 event in this Union Territory (UT) shouldn’t come as any surprise as it has been raising this issue at every forum irrespective of its relevance to the agenda under discussion. Even though its rhetoric goes unheard and at times even ends in embarrassment, Islamabad still refuses to accept the fact that its Kashmir narrative virtually has no takers.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir in India has suffered from multifaceted problems over the last few decades. However, India has taken various initiatives in combating terrorism and has successfully defeated its old rivalries. It has shut all doors of violence and transformed Kashmir into a global hub of tourism, as well as an international economic corridor by inviting international economic summits. The once turbulent state of India has finally choked off the oxygen to terrorism and separatism.

Now that it has raised objections to New Delhi holding a G-20 event held in Kashmir, the obvious question that arises is whether Pakistan is in a position to prevent India from holding G-20-related events and the summit later this year? Even an amateur will tell you that the current situation and developments taking place across the border suggests a definite ‘No’ and the reason is simple. One, despite Islamabad’s claim of J&K being ‘disputed territory’, the UN and International community rightly accepts J&K is an integral part of India.

Kashmir has remained a strategically pivotal region for Pakistan, but the practice of highlighting human rights violations through the induction of infiltration, terrorism, and separatism in the region has come to an end. There was a time when life was completely paralyzed, with schools and businesses shut for months on end. However, the wounded paradise is now hailing from Asia’s beautiful Dal Lake, the fragrance of tulip gardens, and showcasing paradise to tourists from around the world, generating business, boosting the economy, and energizing school children in a peaceful and joyful environment. It is a fact that people are fed up with the violence instigated by Pakistan-backed groups in Kashmir, and they are embracing peace more and more each day.

Two, Islamabad lacks diplomatic leverage to muster any worthwhile support for its Kashmir stance, or dissuade G-20 member nations from attending meetings in J&K. It failed to get the international community to force New Delhi to restore Article 370 and while Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) may issue some statements vaguely supporting Pakistan, all its members (except Pakistan) have maintained extremely cordial relations with India. UAE has even signed MoUs with the J & K Government for several infrastructural development projects running into millions of dollars.    

Thirdly, a bankrupt Pakistan cannot use the financial grant or aid ‘carrot’ to beguile poor nations into toeing its line on this issue and creating a pressure group capable of forcing New Delhi to shift the venue of the G-20 events from Kashmir. Pakistan’s financial condition is so fragile that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has himself admitted that “Today, when we go to any friendly country or make a phone call, they think that we have come [to them] to beg for money.”

Lastly, the international community would be well aware of the miserable conditions in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as videos of its desperate residents scrambling for rations and protesting against non-availability of essential commodities have gone viral on social media. In contrast, the absence of public protests and stone pelting by unruly mobs in Kashmir Valley is a clear indicator that the locals are happy and content with measures taken by the authorities to ensure their well-being.

Pakistan had been prognosing a doomsday scenario in J&K after Article 370 abrogation. While former Prime Minister Imran Khan predicted a “blood bath”, by saying that “Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office hinted at the possibility of Islamabad considering military action. This veiled threat was reinforced by the then Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa who announced that the Pakistan army would go to “any extent” to support separatist activities in Kashmir.

Hence, holding G-20 related events in J&K is a great opportunity for New Delhi to unambiguously reiterate once again that J&K is, and will always remain, an integral part of the Indian Union. It will facilitate showing the delegates that Kashmir Valley’s Muslim majority population takes immense pride in being Indians. This will expose Islamabad’s brazen lies that Kashmiris are being religiously persecuted and marginalised in the UT of J&K.

Holding G-20 events in Kashmir Valley will effectively debunk Pakistan’s false propaganda that its Muslim majority is impoverished because of institutionalised neglect and under siege due to a host of curbs and restrictions. By interacting with locals, G-20 delegates are able to get a first-hand account of the prevailing situation here for themselves, and perhaps this is why Islamabad is so nervous about G-20 events being hosted by J&K.

Under New Delhi’s chairmanship, 56 meetings of G-20 will be held across the entire length and breadth of the country from “Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south”, and will cover all 28 states of India. Being the world’s main platform for economic cooperation, G-20 has an extremely great responsibility in shaping and improving global governance and architecture on all major international economic challenges.

Hence, despite Islamabad’s frantic efforts, G-20 members will neither have the time or inclination to humour Pakistan by digressing from its hectic agenda by the Kashmir issue. In any case, since the UN has categorically decreed that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan which requires to be mutually resolved between the two without any external interference, Islamabad’s latest attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue in the most puerile manner is bound to end in yet another humongous embarrassment! (Eurasiareview)

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The G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar is an important event that will showcase the region’s potential as a tourist destination and combat the negative narrative promoted by Pakistan, reported Asian Lite International.

The G20 meeting is also an opportunity to demonstrate to the world that normalcy has been restored in the Union Territory.

Despite opposition from Pakistan and China, India has decided to go ahead with the G20 meeting in Srinagar. It will refute Pakistan’s false allegations of human rights violations in the Kashmir Valley.

Pakistan had urged its G20 allies, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and China, to prevent the meeting from taking place in Srinagar.

However, India’s decision to hold the meeting in Srinagar is a statement of intent, a reaffirmation of its sovereignty over the region and its commitment to bring peace and prosperity to its people, reported Asian Lite International.

The G20 meeting is a step towards Kashmir’s revival, and India must seize this opportunity to promote the region and bring prosperity to its people.

The upcoming G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar is a significant event, not just for India but also for the region of Jammu and Kashmir to showcase the region’s potential as a tourist destination, reported Asian Lite International.

The meeting is expected to boost tourism, create economic benefits, generate employment for locals, and make the region a stable destination for investment.

The meeting is an opportunity for India to showcase the region’s rich cultural heritage, its stunning natural beauty, and its warm hospitality, reported Asian Lite International.

The UT administration has established a dedicated medical task force that includes advanced life support mobile ambulances at the event and excursion locations, ensuring the safety of the delegates and visitors.

The UT government has been actively promoting film tourism in recent years, and a major event will be held to promote film tourism on the eve of the event.

It will be the first major international gathering to take place in the region since August 2019, when the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories, and its distinct legal status was abolished.

It is time to assure the international community that J-K has turned over a new leaf and a new era of peace and tranquillity has dawned on Kashmir thanks to the proactive measures taken by the government to root out terror and bring prosperity to the people of the state, reported Asian Lite International. (ANI)

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As India achieved a “key milestone” of holding the 100th G20 meeting under its presidency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that India’s G20 Presidency has worked to further global good and create a better planet.

Modi tweeted, “Guided by the principle of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ and in line with our ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, India’s G20 Presidency has worked to further global good and create a better planet.”

Briefing the media, G20 chief coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, “On the whole we intend to have 200-plus meetings in 60 cities across India… The 100th meeting is the Meeting of Agriculture Chief Scientists (MACS) being held now in Varanasi.”

Stating that India’s G20 Presidency has had the “highest in-person participation ever”, Shringla said that more than 12,300 delegates from 111 nationalities have attended G20-related meetings so far.

Shringla said India’s G20 Presidency has been “inclusive”.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “India celebrates a key milestone in its G20 Presidency today, with the hosting of its 100th G20 meeting, the Meeting of Agriculture Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi. The second Health Working Group in Goa, the second Digital Economy Working Group in Hyderabad and the Space Economy Leaders’ Precursor Meeting in Shillong are also being held today.”

India assumed G20 Presidency on December 1, 2022, after handover of the G20 Presidency to Prime Minister Modi at the G20 summit in Bali on November 16 that year. India’s year-long G20 Presidency would continue until November 30 this year.

The statement said, “As on date, the 100 G20 meetings have been held in 41 cities, covering 28 states and Union Territories. Meetings are being organised across the length and breadth of India…. During our Presidency, India will be hosting foreign delegates for over 200 G20-related meetings in around 60 cities across India, the widest geographical spread in any G20 Presidency.”

“All 13 Sherpa Track Working Groups, 8 Finance Track Workstreams, 11 Engagement Groups and 4 Initiatives have embarked on substantive interactions. A new working group on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), a new engagement group “Startup 20” and a new Initiative Chief Science Advisers’ Roundtable (CSAR) have been operationalised in our G20 Presidency…” (Indian Express)

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India will be looking to push the rupee trade agenda with foreign countries during the G-20 meetings it is going to organise as part of its ongoing presidency of the forum, a senior bureaucrat said.

“Definitely, we would like to see that rupee trade also happens, particularly those countries which are facing issues,” Barthwal told reporters.

The bureaucrat was responding to a question about whether India will be looking at the upcoming G-20 meeting of the trade and investment group as a platform to boost rupee trade.

The official further mentioned that the issue of pushing the rupee trade agenda was not just part of the G20 Summit meeting.

It can be noted that as of now, India has been successful in forging agreements with 18 countries since embarking on the agenda of settling trade in the rupee amid currency volatility last year. India is the President of G-20 in the current term.

About 100 delegates from various G-20 countries, special invitee countries and international organisations will be attending the three-day meeting in the financial capital from Tuesday.

Recently, India went for Russia’s oil purchase during the Ukraine war through a Rubble-Rupee settlement. (PTI)

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Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta has said India is the “highest-ranked G20 country according to the Climate Change Performance Index 2023” and is also the “5th best-performing country globally”.

During the 17th K P Hormis Commemorative Lecture by the RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das on Friday said, “Given that India is widely expected to remain as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, our energy demand could rise manifold. The challenge for us is twofold: one, to meet the projected increase in energy demand; and two, to rapidly transition from fossil fuel to renewables.”

“Climate proofing of our infrastructure has also been a priority, more so in view of the large investment in infrastructure in recent years,” the governor said. “Through global forums such as the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)4, India is providing leadership to global efforts for addressing these challenges,” the RBI governor said.

The Governor said the ongoing global crisis was both an opportunity and a major test for the G20 which represents 85 per cent of world GDP and 75 per cent of global trade. “Following the East Asian financial crisis of 1997, the G20 was founded in 1999 as a forum for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to discuss global issues and policy options,” he added.

“After the global financial crisis of 2008, G20 was upgraded to the level of heads of states/governments in 2009,” RBI governor said, adding “In an interconnected world, national policies alone may not be fully effective when the nature of the shocks is global and persistent.”

The Governor said, “Of the multiple risks facing the world community, the surge in inflation has posed a complex monetary policy dilemma in every economy between raising interest rates enough to tame inflation, and at the same time minimising the growth sacrifice to avoid a hard landing.”

He said the aggressive monetary policy tightening by systemic central banks since early 2022 and the consequent appreciation of the US dollar have led to several economies, with a high share of external debt, becoming highly vulnerable to debt distress.

On the recent development in the US banking system, he said this had brought to the fore the criticality of banking sector regulation and supervision. “These are areas which have significant impact on preserving financial stability of every country.”

He said these developments in the US drive home the importance of ensuring prudent asset liability management, robust risk management and sustainable growth in liabilities and assets; undertaking periodic stress tests; and building up capital buffers for any unanticipated future stress. “They also bring out that cryptocurrencies/assets or the like, can be a real danger to banks, whether directly or indirectly,” he added.

The governor said that RBI had taken necessary steps in all these areas and that regulation and supervision of the financial sector and the regulated entities have been suitably strengthened.

Shaktikanta Das said the regulatory steps included, among other things, the implementation of leverage ratio (June 2019), large exposures framework (June 2019), guidelines on governance in commercial banks (April 2021), guidelines on securitisation of standard assets (September 2021), scale-based regulatory (SBR) framework for NBFCs (October 2021), revised regulatory framework for microfinance (April 2022), Revised regulatory framework (July 2022) for Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) and guidelines on digital lending (September 2022).

According to the governor, RBI’s supervisory systems have been strengthened significantly in recent years through measures which include a unified and harmonised supervisory approach for commercial banks, non-banking finance companies and urban co-operative banks. (ANI)

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If you are at Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport and are on a connecting flight, you will transition from main terminal gates Z to concourse C. No matter which direction you come from, you pass by mid-size advertorial screens that grab the attention of passers-by. Where one is used to seeing models demonstrating clothing brands or fragrances, one will be surprised to notice two Indian men, Narendra Modi and his protégé Shivraj Singh Chauhan, flashing through the screens with the G-20 as backdrop.

The advert was sponsored by the BJP-ruled Government of Madhya Pradesh, which, like other states, is one of the hosts of the G-20 meetings happening throughout the year. India is the host of the latest edition of G-20, a forum of the 20 largest economies in the world. The aim of such a gathering is to collaborate on economic issues but also be another occasion for world leaders to discuss extra-economic issues.

This year’s rotating presidentship coincides with Parliamentary elections due next year. Modi has checked nearly all boxes domestically, or so he thinks, and cannot repeat them. G-20 Presidency comes as a boon to alter the newness of his appeal.

He will bank on it to reinstate his role as a ‘strong world leader’. Once this is achieved, then he can parlay the politics of the advanced economies where foreign relations, global recession, and international war are on the agenda. India has been thus far deeply rooted in regional politics but with the new leadership, it is hoping to up the ante.

What Modi is concerned about and has been consistent throughout is his image and what it represents. The Economist wittily remarked how the logo of the G-20 is designed to amplify the BJP’s party lotus.

The foreign policy consensus has changed, nay ameliorated, over the decades. With the 21st Century advancing on the dialogue pertaining to innovation and development, and no longer colonization, the Indian government is ready to offer a capital-pleasing canvas to the technologically advanced world.

However, its innovation rate remains abysmally low. Tech start-ups in India are cloned versions of business enterprises that originated outside India. It ranks 66th on the Global Innovation Index.

The historical touchstones for India’s foreign policy vision were encoded with a robust development model backed by stories of new enterprises taking shape and old business hubs expanding their international base. However, 90% of India’s startups wind up their shops within five years, Oxford Economics and IBM Institute for Business Value reported.

The fiesta of the G-20 rounds has brought together many divergent voices into one. After all, when it comes to national security and international reputation, everyone is meant to bow to the state policy often regulated by the invisible powers (deep state) not limited to the government.

India is locked between the theology of robust nationalism and the blasphemy of multilateralism. If at all, India has offered historical cues with the Non-Aligned Movement to stand as a strong, meditative, and often mature force to reckon with. Will it continue the groundswell in the era of a divided, war-torn West or will it maintain a Gandhian silence on matters important? As a host country and chair, India has the advantage to broker the deal and if it does, Modi will come across as a new face of the Global South taking on the Global North.

The situation of minorities, rights of the caste oppressed, questions of religious freedom and tolerance, and democratic rights seem to take a third or fourth seat in the face of big monies and oligarchic munificence operated via multi-state associations. India has a chance to reinsert that as its ethical standards and confess to these issues. The BBC episode has certainly tainted the credentials of Modi’s impatience with criticism. No matter how many flyers he may fly in the air or take over screens, Modi might as well be following the Ambedkarite foreign policy without his knowledge, which is to follow innovation, state pragmatic alliances, and be a participant in change.

Heretofore, such conventions and exchanges were geared towards Western interests or P-5 opportunism. This can change if the Global South leadership ascends to think of itself as a truly global player not rusticated to the power plays of giants. With G-20 still seen as a not-yet formal heavyweight, it has the possibility of becoming one. Scholar of the G-20, Steven Slaughter, argues that it is this nature of the grouping that offers it more flexibility. The question is, can India use this opportunity and make its own NAM moment of a different kind? (Indian Express)

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The inability of the G20 finance ministers to agree on a joint statement last week points to an important reality about multilateralism. 

When great powers are at peace with each other, multilateralism has reasonable chances of success; but when they are at each other’s throats, the room for global cooperation shrinks. 

Multilateralism, then, is not an activity independent of power politics. 

The outcome of the gathering of the G20 foreign ministers this week is unlikely to be any different from what we have seen with the finance ministers. 

The shadow of the great power rivalry on the G20 is only likely to darken in the days ahead as China and Russia consolidate their “alliance without limits” and Washington rallies the collective West to stand up against Moscow and Beijing.

Read More: 

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/c-raja-mohan-writes-cooperation-amid-conflict-is-indias-burden-for-g20-8472106/

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Ahead of the G-20 Foreign ministers’ meeting beginning on Wednesday, European Union’s High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (equivalent to Foreign minister) Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that it trusts the Indian Presidency and will support its work towards an outcome that reflects the current extraordinary circumstances.

Read More : 

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/josep-borrell-we-trust-indian-g20-presidency-country-has-a-very-influential-voice-on-world-scene-8472212/

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As G20 foreign ministers gather in New Delhi for what is expected to be a stormy meeting under the shadow of the Ukraine crisis, the Indian side will push the consensus reached at the leaders’ summit in Indonesia in order to find a way out, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The foreign ministers will meet just four days after a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Bengaluru ended without consensus on a joint statement because of opposition from China and Russia to a reference to the Ukraine war in the draft communique. This was the first time the two countries took a joint stand on the Ukraine crisis at a multilateral forum since Russia launched the invasion in February 2022.

In a pointer to how the crisis in Europe is expected to dominate the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, the UK said hours before foreign secretary James Cleverly’s arrival in New Delhi that he will “continue to call Russia out at the G20 and work with partners to mitigate the global impacts of Russian aggression in Ukraine”.

At the G20 finance ministers meeting, the representatives of France, Germany and Spain (a guest country invited by India) insisted that any joint statement should not step back from the language in the leaders’ declaration in Bali, which stated that most members of the grouping “strongly condemned the war in Ukraine” while simultaneously acknowledging “other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions”.

Russia’s foreign ministry, in a statement issued after the meet, noted the “constructive role” played by India in the “fair consideration of interests and positions of all countries”, and accused the West of destabilising the activities of the G20 and using the forum in an “anti-Russian, purely confrontational manner”.

The rigid positions adopted by Russia and China on one side and the G7 on the other has heightened concerns that the G20 foreign ministers meeting during March 1-2 too could end without any joint statement.

Amid the Russian side’s insistence that the G20 is a forum for dealing with economic issues and not a platform for discussing the Ukraine crisis, the people cited above said the India’s “considered and balanced” position had contributed to forging the leaders’ declaration at the G20 Summit in Bali last November.

“Our endeavour was to reflect the Bali consensus in the G20 finance ministers’ meeting. This was expressed in the chair’s summary and outcome document. The Indian side will continue to push the Bali consensus because this is something all the members had agreed on,” one of the people said.

However, China on Tuesday appeared to again back the Russian position, with foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning telling a media briefing in Beijing that the Chinese side expects the G20, as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, to focus on “prominent challenges in the global economy and play a bigger role in driving world economic recovery”.

The people cited above also acknowledged that it would be difficult for a gathering of foreign ministers to completely avoid discussions on the Ukraine crisis, including its fallout on developing countries around the world.

Diplomatic circles will be closely watching a networking reception and dinner to be hosted on March 1 by external affairs minister S Jaishankar for his G20 counterparts and nine guest countries, as it will set the stage for discussions during two sessions the following day. The G7 foreign ministers had boycotted a similar dinner in Indonesia in July 2022 over Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s presence.

The first session on March 2 will focus on strengthening multilateralism and the need for reforms of multilateral bodies such as the UN, food and energy security, and development cooperation. The second session will be devoted to counter-terrorism and emerging threats, global skill mapping, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. (Hindustan Times)

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If you ask G20 President India, the three biggest takeaways from the recently concluded meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) are that there is real progress on global debt reduction, that many countries are interested in seeking India’s help to build or improve their own digital payment systems, and that most nations have come around to India’s rather bearish views on cryptocurrency.

At the media briefing on Saturday, a visibly pleased Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said most of the G-20 partners agreed that cryptocurrencies should be regulated with a view to controlling risks and checking proliferation.

“There is now wide recognition and acceptance of the fact that cryptocurrencies, or crypto assets, involve several major risks to financial stability, to monetary systems, to cyber security issues, and to overall financial stability … the effort is to develop an international framework, an international architecture to deal with this problem,” Das said.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva had earlier said if regulations failed, banning cryptocurrencies should be an option, something the RBI has been keen on.

Das, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth can look back at the first such meeting under India’s presidency with some satisfaction. However, getting all the G20 nations, with their own competing interests, to agree to the key agenda items was no easy task.

Business Standard spoke to more than half a dozen officials from the Ministries of Finance and External Affairs and the RBI, to get a sense of the discussions taking place behind the scenes. Just drafting the chair summary statement, which all nations agreed to around 5 pm on February 25, took days of deft negotiations by the host nation.

Most of the Indian delegates, including Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, were up till 2 am on the intervening night of February 24 and 25, working on the language of the summary which would be acceptable to all parties.

The Russian cloud

Given that the FMCBG meeting in Bengaluru coincided with the war in Europe entering its second year, there was concern that it would overshadow all other agenda items. It very nearly did. “We knew the G7 nations would like to keep the focus on Russia and may even want to talk sanctions, even though FMBCG is not the right forum for that. But some of us were taken aback by the extent of their posturing,” said a senior official.

“Things happened very fast in the days leading up to the meeting as fresh sanctions were announced against Russia, military aid poured into Ukraine, and (US President) Joe Biden visited Kyiv. The G7 nations used our platform to keep up the pressure,” the person said. Officials said the internal discussions were mostly cordial although some western nations did use strong language regarding Russia.

The G7 nations are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, all of which are part of the G20 as well.

In press conferences on February 23, 24 and 25, the finance ministers of the US, Japan, Germany, France and Spain spoke in one voice and called for additional sanctions against Russia. “I want to make it very clear that we will oppose any step-back from the statement of the leaders in Bali on this question of the war in Ukraine,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Marie said.

India’s chair summary did adopt the same language on the Ukraine war as the Bali Leaders Declaration of November 2022, which was decided upon by the G-20 Heads of States. Officials said that a conscious decision was taken for Sitharaman to call out Russia and China by name since many western delegates had earlier given the impression to the media that it was India that opposed the use of the word ‘war’.

Progress on debt

India banked on its friendly relations with Russia and western nations to ensure that tangible progress was made on key agenda items.

“We recognize the urgency to address debt vulnerabilities in low and middle-income countries. Strengthening multilateral coordination by official bilateral and private creditors is needed to address the deteriorating debt situation and facilitate coordinated debt treatment for debt-distressed countries,” the chair summary stated on the issue of unsustainable debt of low and middle income nations.

Sitharaman said the G-20 nations were now looking for a swift conclusion of the work on debt treatment for Zambia, Ethiopia, Ghana and Sri Lanka.

While there were some sticking points regarding China and private lenders, officials said that discussions were positive, especially since India, the IMF, and the World Bank took the initiative to convene a global debt roundtable.

“China’s contention has been that any debt restructuring should happen on a bilateral basis and the multilateral development institutions should not be involved,” said another official.

“However, they are still part of the ongoing discussions, and we expect a stronger resolution on the matter at the spring meeting in Washington DC in April, and the second FMCBG meeting in Gandhinagar in July,” said another official. (Business Standard)

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India is seeking to build a consensus and bridge the gap between the West and Russia ahead of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on March 1-2, close on the heels of the finance ministers’ meet in Bengaluru, where a joint communique could not be issued due to differences over references to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

India is in talks with all the sides including key members of the Global South (South Africa-Brazil-Saudi Arabia-Argentina) to arrive at a consensus-driven outcome at this week’s meet that will also be attended by foreign ministers from invitee countries, ET has learnt.

The meeting is expected to be attended by both US secretary of state Anthony Blinken and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, besides their counterparts from other G20 states.

While differences over the Ukraine conflict will be visible, India as a current G20 president will seek a broader approach that focuses on current challenges faced by the Global South. New Delhi will seek support for its priorities as G20 president.

Foreign minister S Jaishankar, on the sidelines of the G20 meet, is expected to hold bilaterals with Blinken and Lavrov among others. The Quad foreign ministers meeting is scheduled for March 3. Some of the G20 foreign ministers including those from Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Canada are also speakers at the Raisina Dialogue during March 2-4. Foreign ministers of some G20 invitee countries including Egypt and Oman are also expected to speak at the G20 meet.

On Friday and Saturday, at the Bengaluru meet, Russia and China took a position that finance ministers and central bank governors should not get into geopolitical issues. There was no request from Russia and China to remove the word “war” from the summary. They just wanted two paragraphs to be removed, according to economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth, and that was why there was a chair’s summary.

Later, the Russian foreign ministry urged the West to build equitable relations with new power centres. “We are urging the collective West to reject its destructive course as soon as possible, to understand the objective realities of a multipolar world and to begin building normal ties with the new centres of power on the international stage, such as Russia, based on the principles of the sovereign equality of nations,” a Russian foreign ministry statement said. (Economic Times)

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Russia on Sunday alleged that the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Bengaluru ended without a joint communique because of the ”confrontational” approach towards Moscow by the ”collective West” over the situation in Ukraine.

The G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors on Saturday was unable to come out with a joint communique following opposition by Russia and China on making any references to the war in Ukraine.

A chair’s summary was issued by India at the end of the meeting in its capacity as the holder of the G20 presidency.

The Russian foreign ministry, in a statement, referred to ”the constructive role” of the Indian presidency and its efforts to have a ”fair consideration of interests and positions of all countries”.

”The balanced approaches formulated in this context create a good foundation for responding to modern challenges in the area of global finance and related sectors, including support for economic growth and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals,” it said.

The Russian foreign ministry said that as a result of the substantive dialogue on topical financial issues, a wide range of measures was agreed upon which were designed to give an additional impetus to the global economy and financial markets.

”We regret that the activities of the G20 continue to be destabilised by the collective West and used in an anti-Russian, purely confrontational manner,” it said.

”Our opponents, primarily the United States, the EU and the G7, continue their paranoid attempts to isolate Russia and shift the blame for the provoked problems in the area of international security and the global economy onto it,” it alleged.

The Russian foreign ministry accused the West of throwing up what it called ”absurd interpretations of the situation in Ukraine”.

”As a result, the fully approved text of the document, except for the wording on Ukraine, which gives out for assessments of the discussion at the ministerial meeting something that was not actually discussed and is unrelated to the topic of its jurisdiction, had become a hostage to this aggressive line,” it said.

”The results of the meeting never received an agreed status and were released only as a statement by the chairman, and not as a joint work. Russia and China expressed a resolute protest in this regard,” it said. (PTI)

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With Srinagar District likely to host some G-20 meetings/events in the backdrop of proposed G-20 Summit, a meeting of Sectoral/District Officers was held under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar, Mohammad AijazAsad here on Monday at Conference Hall of the DC Office Complex.

The meeting was held in light of action taken in respect of directions issued for preparation of the G-20 Summit.

At the outset, the Deputy Commissioner discussed the action taken by all concerned Departments in threadbare and also highlighted the importance of hosting a G20 Summit.

The DC took a Department wise review regarding to the action taken by them to enhance the facade of roads through development of footpaths, medians, traffic road furnishing, landscape improvement, installation of roadside VMDs, installation of hoardings besides removal of wooden poles, rusted plant guards, hanging cable wires and unnecessary road dividers and debris, painting of Government buildings and commercial building walls along the roads to increase the aesthetic value of those structures.

The DC also assessed the status in respect of pruning of trees, plantation of ornamental green plants on medians, removal of withered trees.

The DC was apprised about the measures being taken for beautification of various roads and junctions including IG road, Jhelum river front, upgradation of GhantaGhar, LalChowk, improvement of Gupkar junction and other important places.

The DC directed the Officers to accelerate the pace of works and ensure that all the developmental/beautification works are completed in set timelines.

While discussing the beautification plan of Dachigam National Park, the DC asked the concerned to speed up the works on the main entrance of the Park so that it is given a majestic view to attract more visitors. He also directed the face-lifting of Fisheries departments infrastructure including Fish ponds at the Park.

The PHE Department was asked to shift unused water pipes from the premises of Dachigam Park at the earliest.

The DC was informed that as many as 17 development projects are being executed by the R&B Department in various parts of the City, in addition to works taken up by Smart City for overall development and beautification of the Srinagar District.

The DC also asked the concerned to expedite the process of installation of traffic lights and welcome hoardings/signages at designated places.

Earlier, DC was informed that in view of G20 Summit, the roads which are to be developed and upgraded by concerned agencies include Road from Srinagar Airport to SKICC, Residency Road, Boulevard Road, roads leading to Hotel Lalit, Hotel Taj and Nehru Guest House, roads leading to Mughal gardens, Parimahal, Cheshmashahi, Botanical Garden, Srinagar towards Zeastha Temple, Shankar Acharya, Dalgate to Hazratbal, besides beautification of spaces under flyovers.

Among others the meeting was attended by Chief Planning officer, SP Traffic, S.E Irrigation & Flood Control, SDM East, Executive Engineer, PHE, DFO Dachigam, TehsildarChannapra and officers of Floriculture, Hospitality & Protocol, Legal Metrology and other allied Departments. (Kashmir Horizon)

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