Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s absence will not cast a shadow on the G20 Summit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said there have been presidents or Prime Ministers who for some reason have chosen not to come for global meetings and that country’s position is reflected by the representative present on the occasion.
In an exclusive interview at the G20 Summit in Delhi on September 9 and 10, Jaishankar said India has a responsibility of the G20 Presidency in a difficult world that is facing the impacts of COVID-19, Ukraine conflict, climate change, debt, the north-south divide and sharper east-west polarization and the effort is to find common ground.
India has a reputation of being a very constructive player
Jaishankar said India has a reputation of being a very constructive player. It has a lot of goodwill and noted that everybody is coming with a great deal of seriousness.
“Not really. I think at different points of time in G20 there have been some presidents or prime ministers who for whatever reason, have chosen not to come themselves but that country, and that country’s position is obviously reflected by whoever is the representative on that occasion. So, you had some occasions where you had a president or two, sometimes three, who have not themselves come. My sense from talking to the ministers, certainly, and I know the Sherpas are in touch with each other. They are right now trying to hammer out the final document. I think everybody is coming with a great deal of seriousness,” he said.
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President Putin and President Xi not being present will cast a shadow
Jaishankar was asked if President Putin and President Xi not being present will cast a shadow on the New Delhi G20 Summit being held on September 9 and 10. “I do not think it has anything to do with India. I think whatever decision they make, they would know best,” Jaishankar said in response to another query.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that Premier Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit in New Delhi. It gave no reason for Xi Jinping’s absence from the summit.
Russian President Putin Delegates G20 Summit Representation to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
President Putin in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month had conveyed his inability to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi. He informed that Russia would be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Asked about any impact on the outcome of the summit, Jaishankar said that the issues being taken up are not new.
“I would put it this way, the issues are there. These are not issues that are this morning being taken up. I mean there is a whole gestation period of eight months. Where at different levels ministers or officials have tried to progress an issue. So, this is like a culmination. These are really about 16-18 processes which are all coming together. It is to be stitched up together to produce a summit, “he said.
“Well, we are negotiating right now. As I said the negotiation is not…the clock did not start ticking yesterday. The clock has been ticking for some time, so typically what happens is there is a ministerial meeting. Then a ministerial meeting produces outcomes,” he added. Asked about consensus building and what will India see as a win-win situation, Jaishankar said it is just not a matter of India seeing something.
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