INDIA: Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the Indian Foreign Minister, told the news agency that China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s absence from this week’s G20 conference in New Delhi is somewhat normal and unrelated to India.
In a media interaction on Wednesday, Jaishankar stated that the G20 sherpas are currently trying to reach an agreement and make a statement during the summit in New Delhi on September 9–10.
When questioned if Xi and Putin are skipping the summit because they are upset with India, Jaishankar stated that both leaders being absent “has anything to do with India.”
“I think whatever decision they make, I mean, they would know best. But I would not at all see it the way you would suggest,” he added.
When asked whether their absence would have an impact on reaching an agreement and issuing a statement at the conclusion of the summit, Jaishankar responded, “We are negotiating right now…the clock did not start ticking yesterday.”
But anticipations from the G20 summit are “extremely high,” and New Delhi confronts the task of navigating a complex global landscape marked by the pandemic, conflicts, climate change, financial debt, and political issues.
The G20 groups the 20 largest world economies, and its leaders aspire to address critical global challenges, although the ongoing geopolitical discord concerning the Ukraine conflict poses a significant hurdle to achieving progress.
However, analysts and officials have stated that it would be challenging to get a consensus leader declaration at the summit given the absence of Xi and Putin as well as disagreements over the conflict.
During the meeting, U.S. President Joe Biden will prioritise restructuring the World Bank and pushing other multilateral development banks to increase funding for infrastructure and climate change initiatives, the White House announced on Tuesday.
Fumio Kishida, Japanese Prime Minister, expressed his intention to engage in conversations concerning digital matters and food security. India has stated that it is in the process of deliberating a worldwide framework for the regulation of cryptocurrency assets.
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