The change in weather in the Capital—a dash of rain—the hottest February since 1901--may be a signal as to what lies ahead. The G20 foreign ministers meeting will begin on Thursday with the clouds of the Ukraine conflict looming over the horizon.
“Given the nature of the developing situation...it is natural it will be a point of discussion at the foreign ministers’ meeting,’’ said foreign secretary Vinai Kumar Kwatra at a special media briefing on Wednesday.
The Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was the first to arrive in India late Tuesday night. The American secretary of state Antony Blinken is expected to arrive on Wednesday. The Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang has also arrived. This is the first high-level visit to India after the previous foreign minister Wang Yi last year. So, will there be a bilateral? “It is expected,’’ said foreign secretary Vinai Kwatra, responding to a question in Hindi.
Differences on the Ukraine crisis surfaced in the meeting of the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Bengaluru held last week and a joint communique could not be issued. Instead “Chair’s Summary and Outcome Document” was released after Russia and China chose to oppose the stand on the conflict in Ukraine.
Responding to a question on why there was a Chair’s Summary instead of a Communique, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been quoted as saying that paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Summary were “exactly what the Bali Leaders’ Summit had come up with… But, two countries — Russia and China — had reservations. So, with a footnote, certainly, a Communique can’t go out. And therefore, it had to be a Chair’s Summary and Outcome Document”. This prickly aspect of language—it seems that Russia and China have hardened their stance and from the Bali agreement that India had negotiated—is likely to play out in the meeting.
One of the notable absentees is the Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. Japan, however, will send one of the largest delegations to the foreign minister’s meeting. While the ministry of external affairs has chosen resolutely not to read any deeper meaning in the non attendance of Hayashi, Japan has been leading from the front at the United Nations floor last Thursday to asking for Russia to withdraw forces from Ukraine urging countries to “stand up’’. “Imagine yourself. What if one permanent member of the Security Council would launch an aggression against your homeland, grab your territory and then cease hostilities, calling for peace? I would call it an unjust peace,” Hayashi said at the U.N. General Assembly emergency session on the Ukraine war. India chose to abstain from voting for the sixth time on the issue. “Our partnership with Japan is of great value to us,’’ said Kwatra. “We have no doubt that the Japanese delegation will bring tremendous value to the discussions,’’ he said.
