G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting Divisions between Western countries, Russia-China derail joint statement

G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting Divisions between Western countries, Russia-China derail joint statement

• India issues chairman’s summary naming Russia and China for not joining consensus on Ukraine from Bali document
• Deep divisions between the United States-led Western countries and the Russia-China combine upended India’s attempt to forge consensus at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. The meeting in Delhi, that brought together the world’s 20 most developed economies, saw sharp words exchanged by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and a number of other Foreign Ministers, despite an appeal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the start of the meeting to “rise above [their] differences”.
• “We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can,” said PM Modi in a reference to the divide over the Ukraine war, adding that he hoped that their meeting “in the land of Gandhi and the Buddha” would inspire the G20 delegates to “focus not on what divides us, but on what unites us”.
• In an indication of the continuing divide since Russia’s attack on Ukraine from February 2022, the delegates, who met PM Modi together on Thursday evening, did not agree to a joint “family” photograph of the grouping.
• “Our task was not an easy one given the state of polarisation in the world and we were not able to reach a complete consensus as we and a group of countries were able to do in Bali”, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said, disagreeing with the formulation of questions from journalists who asked if he was “disappointed”.
• Eventually, the meeting chaired by Mr. Jaishankar ended with a “Chair’s Summary and Outcome Document” issued by India, that like the G20 Finance Ministers’ Meeting last week, named Russia and China as the reason the two paragraphs (three and four from G20 Bali Document of 2022) pertaining to the war in Ukraine could not be reconciled. 
• Explaining the decision to shun language on Ukraine that he had accepted last year, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said, “The Bali Declaration took place half a year ago. A lot of events took place since then,” indicating the Ukrainian President’s announcement that he no longer would adhere to the Minsk Agreements with Russia, and pointing to the explosions on the Nordstream energy pipelines that Russia blames the U.S. carried out. Mr. Lavrov commended India for its “dignified” position as G20 Chair.

India, Italy elevate ties to strategic partnership, sign MoU on defence cooperation

• Italy and India called for the cessation of hostilities and expressed their serious concern about the humanitarian crisis in Ukrain
• Foreign Secretary Vinay M. Kwatra described as “legacy issues” now behind, India and Italy announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to the level of strategic partnership while also concluding a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defense cooperation.
• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped that India with its G20 Presidency could play a central role in “facilitating a negotiating process for the cessation of hostilities” in Ukraine.
• “Today, we are announcing the establishment of a ‘Startup Bridge’ between India and Italy. Another important area of our mutual cooperation is defense. We have also decided to organize the joint military exercises and training courses on a regular basis,” Mr. Modi said in the joint press statement after the talks.
• The developments happened during the meeting.
• “In terms of sub-sectors within, it is clear that with legacy issues behind us, the door is now open for industries on the two sides to cooperate more strongly in this area, particularly in the field of manufacturing, co-production, co-design, and co-innovation, military exercises to be expanded and deepened to all levels of the armed forces and maritime cooperation.”
• Welcoming Italy’s active participation in the Indo-Pacific, Mr. Modi said that Italy had decided to join the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI). “This will enable us to identify concrete themes for enhancing our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific,” he stated.
• The two countries also concluded a Declaration of Intent (DOI) on migration and mobility on which Mr. Modi said once the mutual settlements came into being, it “will usher in the new era of mutual cooperation in many fields, especially education.”

Ms. Meloni's statement

• In her statement, Ms. Meloni said with its G20 Presidency, India could very much represent the interests of the global south. Talking of the situation in Ukraine, she said, “We hope that India having a G20 Presidency can play a central role in facilitating a negotiating process for the cessation of hostilities for a just peace [in Ukraine].
• Keeping the multilateral community united is important and we hope the Indian Presidency can do even more.”
• In this regard, Ms. Meloni pledged complete support from Italy for the upcoming G20 summit. “PM Modi knows that he can rely on us, on our cooperation and full round support for the upcoming G20 summit, and to further enhance our relationship.

India’s statement

• Mr. Modi invited Italy to partner in ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ while both leaders laid special focus on the areas of renewable energy, green hydrogen, IT, telecom, and space among others.
• Italy reiterated its strong condemnation of the unlawful and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine by Russian armed forces, the joint statement issued after the talks said. “Italy and India called for the cessation of hostilities and expressed their serious concern about the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. 
• The two Prime Ministers discussed the destabilizing effect of the conflict in Ukraine and its broader regional and global implications.”

Strategic areas of cooperation

• In addition to defense, Mr. Kwatra identified space, cyber, and sea as specific strategic areas for cooperation and said work would now begin to identify specific proposals for cooperation.
• Another area was Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and under it joint exercises to better prepare our systems to respond to such challenges however they occur in the world, he said.
• Both the leaders also talked of the increasing bilateral trade which last year reached an all-time high of $15bn. As part of the consultations, a CEO roundtable was held between business delegations of the two sides.
• The report on defense cooperation has been in the works for a few years now and also has a framework for concluding Inter-Governmental Agreements.

India, China discuss on LAC; Jaishankar calls a state of relations ‘abnormal’

• Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warns against ‘bloc politics’ in remarks to G20 meet
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said the “abnormal” current state of relations with China and the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as he held bilateral talks with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
• The meeting a first between the two Ministers, with Mr. Qin having been appointed in December 2022 — was focused on addressing “challenges in the bilateral relationship” and specifically the peace and tranquillity in the border, Mr. Jaishankar said, adding that both also discussed the G20 agenda.
• “The thrust of our talks was on challenges in the bilateral relationship and the peace and tranquillity at the LAC,” he said. 
• “Our talks were about the current state of our relationship which many of you heard me describe as abnormal, those were among the adjectives that I used in the meeting. 
• There are real problems that need to be discussed openly and candidly and that is what we did today.”
• The two sides last week held their first in-person high-level border talks in more than three years, with Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs Shilpak Ambule traveling to Beijing for the 26th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs. 
• The two sides discussed proposals for disengaging in two remaining friction areas to create conditions to “restore normalcy” in relations and agreed to hold the next round of talks between senior military commanders at an early date.
• Mr. Qin, in his remarks to the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, called for the grouping “to practice true multilateralism, uphold the U.N.-centered international system and the international order based on international law, and observe the basic norms of international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter.”
• “No one should engage in power politics or even bloc confrontation,” he said, adding that “global development and prosperity cannot be achieved without a peaceful and stable international environment.” “With this in mind, China has put forward the Global Security Initiative and issued the position paper on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. China will always stand on the side of peace, actively promote peace talks, and play a constructive role.”
• In bilateral talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the meeting, both sides hailed the closeness of their strategic partnership, which the two countries have recently described as being the best period in their history. Mr. Qin told Mr. Lavrov relations had “set a new paradigm for a new type of major power relations,” the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said in a statement, and on Ukraine, criticized those who were “pouring oil on the fire”.