G20 Foreign Minister's Meet: Russia Says West Wants to Take Revenge; This Isn't An Era of War, India Reaffirms Stand on Ukraine

India on Wednesday cleared its stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, reaffirming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that “this isn’t an era of war". Speaking at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, “India’s position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict is that ‘This isn’t an era of war’. Dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward. The agenda is for the foreign ministers to discuss in the meet."

Foreign ministers of G20 countries are meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday to deliberate on pressing global challenges amid escalating confrontation between Russia and the West over the Ukraine war.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang among others at the meeting.

Earlier today Jaishankar had a bilateral meeting with James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, where he reviewed the progress of the bilateral relationship between the two nations and exchanged views on the global situation.

Here are the latest updates in the story:

- Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that Western countries want to “take revenge for the inevitable disappearance of the levers of dominance from its hands."

- Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said the Russia-Ukraine situation will be an important point of discussion during the Foreign Ministers’ meeting. “It’ll be important to what they come out with,what understanding is developed," he said.

- The Foreign Secretary also said that External Affairs Minister Jaishankar is expected to meet all the participating foreign ministers.

- Kwatra also refused to speculate on whether the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting would be able to come out with a joint communique in the backdrop of widening differences between the West and Russia on the Ukraine conflict.

- 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 are attending the G20 foreign ministers meeting today.

- This is Blinken’s first visit to India since the Ukraine war began last year. He came to India earlier in July 2021.

- Meanwhile, Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang will be visiting India for the first time. Earlier, former Chinese minister Wang Yi had visited New Delhi in 2019.

- On Tuesday night, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov landed in the national capital to attend the meeting. Lavrov is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday during which both sides are expected to carry out a comprehensive review of bilateral ties.

- 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 meeting.

- Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is unlikely to attend due to his “scheduling conflict" with the parliament session. Hayashi’s visit was seen as important in the backdrop of a plan to have a foreign ministerial meeting of the Quad countries on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

- Similarly, South Korea’s foreign office earlier announced that its foreign minister would not participate in the New Delhi meeting. As per diplomatic sources, he would not be able to participate due to involvement in “domestic affairs”.

- People familiar with the visits of the top G20 foreign ministers said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is likely to hold a series of bilateral talks on Wednesday including with his counterparts from Russia and China.

- The G20 foreign ministers meeting is taking place days after a gathering of finance ministers and the Central Bank Governors of the G20 member countries in Bengaluru failed to come out with a joint communique over sharp differences between the Western powers and Russia-China combine over the Ukraine conflict.

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