India’s “One Country, One Family, One Future” theme during its G20 presidency this year signals the need for “unity and action”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday as the country hosted foreign ministers of major economies in New Delhi as part of the summit.
The ministers were meeting at a time of deep global discord, Modi said during his video address to the dignitaries. “We must recognize that multilateralism is in crisis today,” he added.
During his opening speech, Modi said the experience of the past few years – “financial crises, pandemics, terror, wars” – had shown that “global governance has failed in its mandates”.
“We all have our positions and views on how geopolitical tensions should be resolved,” he said, adding: “As leaders of the world economy, we also have a responsibility to those who are not in this room.”
The Prime Minister said the world is looking to the Group of 20 countries to mitigate the challenges of growth, development, financial stability, food and energy security.
“We should not let the problems we cannot solve together stand in the way of the ones we can,” Modi said at the second G20 ministerial meeting.
The first meeting of finance chiefs in Bengaluru last month failed to agree on a statement, with both Russia and China refusing to sign a joint statement criticizing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. India then issued a “Chairman’s Summary and Outcome Document” summarizing the two days of talks and acknowledging disagreements.
The foreign ministers’ meeting is a powerful test of India’s diplomacy as it balances the ongoing conflict, now in its second year.
India has not condemned Russia in any UN resolution, although last year’s G20 summit in Bali issued a joint statement that echoed Modi’s advice to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “today’s era must not be an era of war”.
Also on Wednesday, Indian Foreign Minister Vinay Kwatra stressed that G20 foreign ministers should reflect on the impact, “especially economic”, that the conflict has caused globally.
