In an exclusive interview with Indian Express on Tuesday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the bloc trusts India’s G20 presidency, lauding it as an “influential voice” in the international community.
Borrell made the remarks ahead of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting scheduled for 2 March in New Delhi. India has celebrated the meeting as “the largest gatherings of foreign ministers hosted by any G20 Presidency.”
Borrell on G20 and Russia War
Recalling Indian PM Narendra Modi’s repeated statements highlighting that this is not an era for war, Borrell lamented the global impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. To this end, he praised India’s influence in potentially bringing together the international community to oppose Russia’s “blatant violation of and disregard for the UN Charter.”
Productive meeting with Minister @DrSJaishankar on key issues ahead of @g20org, such as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, or the global debt crisis#India is a key partner for the EU. I want to deepen our strategic partnership & collaboration on regional and global challenges pic.twitter.com/tmLBzOobOC
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) March 1, 2023
In particular, he expressed concern over the alarming violations of international law by Russia and noted that the “unprecedented situation” will “inevitably” impact the G20 proceedings. Borrell said that the EU would seek to acknowledge the ground-level situation in Russia, including the rights violations of women and children.
Echoing Borrell’s statement, British foreign secretary James Cleverly also said that he would attempt to “call out Russian aggression in Ukraine” during Thursday’s discussions.
Russia Criticises West’s Attempt to Takeover G20
The G20 meeting is set to be highly controversial, particularly amid Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s attendance at the summit alongside his Western counterparts.
"We support India's G20 presidency in its commitment to promote a unifying agenda that will restore confidence in multilateral diplomacy," Russian foreign ministry statement on Lavrov's India visit pic.twitter.com/OLiSq5SmQ9
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) February 28, 2023
The foreign ministry in Moscow warned of the West’s attempt to “take revenge for the inevitable disappearance of the levers of dominance from its hands” during the summit. It further warned of the “destructive policy” of Western countries that have already pushed the international community to the brink of disaster.
The ministry also said that Lavrov would use the G20’s platform to identify the “causes and masterminds” of the ongoing global conflict and will present an “unbiased picture” of the Nord Stream pipeline explosion, which Moscow has previously called a terrorist attack.
These differences between the West and Russia may result in another stalemate, similar to the one during last week’s G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting in Bengaluru, which ended without a joint statement after China and Russia sought to take a more soft stand on the Ukraine war.
China-US Tensions
China FM Qin Gan to visit India for G20 FMs meet: https://t.co/IPSg9szuvu pic.twitter.com/13urZXfd8z
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) February 28, 2023
The meeting is also being held amid tensions between China and the US, particularly after Washington shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on 4 February. On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang confirmed that he would participate in the 2 March meeting.
The US has said China might provide weapons to Russia. In this respect, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday, warned his Beijing against providing “material support” to Russia.
India to Focus on Global South’s Needs
Sessions will "capture" issues of the global south, Foreign secretary Kwatra when asked how India will be the voice of global south at the G20 FMs meet https://t.co/dvKEdg5z7C pic.twitter.com/bKA9HdL1qu
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) March 1, 2023
Nevertheless, India will seek to focus its presidency on the Global South’s priorities, which include issues such as poverty alleviation and climate financing for poorer nations that are more susceptible to climate disasters. In a press briefing on Wednesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra underscored that New Delhi would use the presidency to advocate for the Global South’s voice.
He also noted that New Delhi will work hard to achieve a consensus among the countries and present a joint statement to display the G20’s strength and relevance amid growing international crises.