- By Vikas Pandey in Delhi & Simon Fraser
- BBC News
March 2, 2023 at 05:11 GMT
Updated 32 minutes ago
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Mr Modi addressed the ministers in English – a sign of how seriously he wanted his message to be taken
Furious rows over Russia’s war in Ukraine have dominated G20 talks, with host India saying the disagreements mean there will be no joint statement.
The US Secretary of State said the meeting was overshadowed by Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified war.”
Russia’s foreign minister accused the West of “blackmail and threats.”
India wanted to focus on other issues affecting developing countries but said differences over Ukraine “cannot be settled”.
“We tried, but the gap between the countries was too big,” said India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.
The G20, which includes the 19 richest nations in the world and the European Union, accounts for 85% of global economic output and two-thirds of its population.
The group’s foreign ministers – including Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, the US’ Antony Blinken and China’s Qin Gang – met in Delhi under India’s presidency. It was the first face-to-face meeting of top American and Russian diplomats since the war began just over a year ago.
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The Russian delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
Mr Blinken met Mr Lavrov on the sidelines for about 10 minutes and told him the West would stand by Ukraine “for as long as necessary,” a senior State Department official said. Mr Blinken also urged Russia to rejoin the New Start nuclear arms control treaty, from which it recently withdrew, and to abide by the terms.
Russian officials denied that negotiations had taken place. Earlier, Russia had also accused the West of “burying” a deal to allow some Ukrainian grain exports – but the US countered by saying Moscow would impede Ukrainian exports.
Meanwhile, Russian officials said Moscow and Beijing had agreed to resist what they called Western blackmail and threats – but this has not been confirmed by China.
“We’re talking about manners. Well, our western colleagues got really bad with that,” Lavrov said after talks on Thursday. “They no longer think about diplomacy, they only act with blackmail and threaten everyone else.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the session, warning that global divisions would endanger sustainable development.
“Many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debt while trying to ensure food and energy security,” he said.
“They are also the most affected by the global warming caused by the richer countries.”
It was a rare speech by Mr Modi in English – a sign of how seriously he wanted his message to be taken. He did not refer directly to the war in Ukraine, but acknowledged that geopolitical tensions influenced the discussions.
Thursday’s program featured sessions on food security, development cooperation, terrorism and humanitarian aid – a reflection of India’s priorities during its G20 presidency.
Ahead of the talks, a former Indian diplomat told the BBC India “must do something special” to make delegates overlook their disagreements over the war. Strained relations between the US and China, which has refused to oppose Russia’s invasion, should test India’s ability to reach a consensus.
In the end, Foreign Minister Jaishankar had to present a so-called chair’s summary after the talks on Thursday, which means that the participants could not come to a joint statement. Russia and China were the only states that refused to condemn the war.
But India achieved its main goal of raising a voice for the Global South and Mr Jaishankar said that “we were able to get a outcome document on most issues”.
With a few months left for diplomacy before G20 leaders meet in September, Delhi will hope its presidency does not end on a disappointing note.
Experts say Delhi has also had the delicate task of balancing its non-aligned war policy with pleas for other nations to find ways to work together.
It has also defended its decision to increase its oil imports from Russia, saying it must attend to the needs of its people.
But it has spoken about the importance of “the UN Charter, international law and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states” in its previous statements on Ukraine.
Additional reporting by Leila Nathoo
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