G20: Ukraine conflict is affecting the Global South, says Jaishankar

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Noting that there were divergences on issues concerning the Ukraine conflict in the G20 document, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that the chair summary outlined the concerns of the Global South and “it is just on two paragraphs that were not able to get everybody on the same page.”

“The bulk of the issues which concern especially the Global South, the developing countries. There was a considerable meeting of minds. And a considerable meeting of mindshas been captured by the outcome document. If we had a perfect meeting of minds of all issues and captured it fully then obviously it would have been a collective statement,” he said while confirming that a chair’s summary and outcome document was adopted.

Emphasizing the issue of bringing G20 members on the same page, Jaishankar said, “In terms of the outcome document, the bulk… 95 per cent for say in terms of paragraph agreement and it is just on two paragraphs that were not able to get everybody on the same page or same para.”

Highlighting that there were “issues concerning the Ukraine conflict on which there were divergences” EAM said, “The bulk of issues, we were able to get an outcome document. There was a chair summary because there were differences on the Ukraine issue which could not reconcile various parties who held differing positions.”

Jaishankar noted that the impact of the conflict on food security and the cost of fertilizer were among the key areas for the Indian presidency.”Is a conflict impacting Global South? Of course, it is. It is not something new.

In fact, India has been saying this very strongly for pretty much close to a year that this is affecting… In fact today, in my own session, I actually used the word saying for much of the Global South this is a make-or-break issue that the cost of fuel, the cost of food, the cost of fertilizer…The availability of fertilizer which means next year’s food. These are all extremely pressing issues,” he said.

Pointing to the fact that some countries are struggling with debt post-pandemic, EAM said, “If you see, some of the countries who were already struggling with debt, who were already impacted by the pandemic. For them, the knock-on effects of this conflict coming on top of that. It is a matter of very very deep concern for us. Which is why we kept on the focus in this meeting very much on the concerns of the Global South,” he said.

“We feel these are the most vulnerable countries. It is not credible to talk about the future of the global economy and the multilateral order. If we are not able to really address and focus on the issues of those who are most in need. So that is been broadly the approach,” he added.

“Multilateralism is in crisis today in terms of preventing future wars and terrorism,” said Jaishankar, while briefing reports about the discussions that took place during the meetings. (Firstpost)