Leaders Can’t Come To Terms On Joint Statement
March 2, 2023—Foreign ministers meeting in India had difficulty overcoming an obstacle to collaborating on global problems due to one big elephant in the room: Russia’s invasion of and ongoing war in Ukraine.
Heads of state of G20 countries are scheduled to meet in New Delhi in September 2023. Their top diplomats met yesterday and today. Normally, delegates would conclude meetings up with a joint statement detailing areas of agreement on issues like climate change and the global economy. Instead, they settled for an outcome document acknowledging major differences about the Russia-Ukraine war.
“The war in Ukraine has further adversely impacted the global economy,” the foreign ministers said in the document. “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy – constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks. There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. Recognizing that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy.”
G20 March 2, 2023 statement
Odd Theme Of Unity For A Broken World
Ironically, this year’s G20 host, India, gave the meetings the theme, “One Earth, one family, one future.” India has kept a neutral stance on the issue, refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion or war crimes. India has a strong relationship with Russia, including a technology agreement, and imports Russian weapons and oil.
Asked about the divide in the G20 and the inability to reach a consensus on a joint statement, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar emphasized agreements on economic issues, particularly in the global South.
Russia Trade And Diplomacy
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly held several meetings with counterparts from India, China, Turkey, the United States, South Africa, and Brazil. According to Reuters, Lavrov settled issues about using local currency for trade in talks with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged G20 finance delegates to follow India’s lead in adopting a digital currency model, the digital rupee. India already employs its use in international transactions with several countries. Overall, it seems the war has not negatively impacted India. Its economy is projected to grow 6.6 percent this year.
At finance meetings last week, G7 countries met on the sidelines to discuss strengthening economic sanctions. This week, several diplomats reportedly warned China about possible secondary sanctions if Beijing supports Russia with weapons. For example, Bloomberg News reported that Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra warned China directly and indirectly in comments to the press.
“What is important and what I will convey to each of the colleagues, including my Chinese colleague here, is that, you know, the truth here is not somewhere in the middle, there is only one country responsible and that is Russia, and therefore all others should clearly refrain from helping out Russia militarily,” Hoekstra told reporters. “That will have consequences if countries crossed that line, in my opinion.”
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023 Patti Mohr