September 6th 2023.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the upcoming G20 Summit in New Delhi will not cast a shadow on the event. In an exclusive interview with ANI, he noted that in the past, some presidents or prime ministers have skipped such global events for one reason or another, but their country’s position is still reflected by the representative present.
Referring to India’s responsibility as the G20 presidency, Jaishankar said that the world is facing the impacts of COVID-19, the Ukraine conflict, climate change, debt, and a north-south divide, among other issues, and the effort is to find common ground. He asserted that India has a reputation of being a very constructive player and has a lot of goodwill.
When asked about any impact on the outcome of the summit due to the absence of the two leaders, Jaishankar said that the issues being taken up are not new and ministers and officials have been trying to progress them for the past eight to nine months. He added that there is a lot of expectation from the G20 to meet the world’s challenges and that the focus should be on the Global South.
The External Affairs Minister also dismissed the claims of India leaning towards the US and said that G20 is not the arena for power politics. He highlighted that the G20 is about finding solutions to global challenges and India is open to partnering with every country to do so.
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