G20FMM: India welcomes Foreign Ministers for G20 meet amid increasing rift between Russia, West over Ukraine war
3 min read . Updated: 01 Mar 2023, 06:33 AM IST
Premium- While the visiting dignitaries will be welcomed at a gala reception on March 1, the crucial deliberations on various challenges will be held on March 2.
The G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM) is scheduled to take place in physical format from 1-2 March, 2023 in New Delhi under India's presidency.
Representatives of 40 countries, including non-G20 members invited by India, and multilateral organisations will attend. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the foreign ministers of the member countries of G20 and he will talk about India's growing influence globally.
The Foreign Ministers meeting is one of the most significant G20 meetings.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in India for the G20 FMM. He is also set to attend Raisina Dialogue 2023. Besides Lavrov, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DSA) Under Secretary General Li Junhua also arrived for the meet.
Apart from them, Australian Senator Penny Wong, Turkey FM Mevlutt Cavusoglu, FM Mauro Vieira of Brazil, FM Alan Ganoo of Mauritius have also arrived for the G20 FMM.
Those attending the G20 foreign ministers meeting include US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Germany's Annalena Baerbock and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajan, Australia's Penny Wong, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Indonesia's Retno Marsudi and Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero are also among those attending the G20 foreign ministers' meeting.
While the visiting dignitaries will be welcomed at a gala reception on March 1, the crucial deliberations on various challenges will be held on March 2.
Giving a sneak peak of the event, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi shared a video of the preparation of G20 Foreign Ministers Meet.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had said that Lavrov and India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will touch on a number of regional topics, including "developments in Ukraine" during Lavrov's visit to India for the G20. "As part of the visit's bilateral events, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will discuss ways to further advance cooperation in key areas, as well as coordinate the schedule of upcoming contacts. The main thematic blocks include trade, investment, transport and logistics cooperation, the use of national currencies in mutual settlements, and promising projects in the energy sector.
Ahead of the meet, EAM Jaishankar on Tuesday held separate bilateral talks with his counterparts from Brazil, Turkiye and Mauritius with a focus on the agenda of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting and the Ukraine conflict.
With India holding the chair, countries are looking to India to bring economic stability, especially at a time when there is a lack of success from multilateral bodies like the UN and UNSC whose job is to maintain peace and security. Barely a one-day plus meeting, the FMM will have a packed agenda. Though a joint photo op involving all the foreign ministers is unlikely, several discussions will be held on March 2.
The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies. The members represent around 85 percent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
The grouping comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union.