Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Ukraine war, US-China tensions to dominate G20 foreign ministers meet

Ukraine war, US-China tensions to dominate G20 foreign ministers meet

FOREIGN ministers from around the world meet in New Delhi this week in the shadow of Russia's war in Ukraine and spiralling US-China tensions, with host India hoping that issues like climate change and Third World debt are not overlooked.

The March 1-2 meeting of the G20 foreign ministers will be held days after a meeting of finance chiefs of the bloc in Bengaluru, where they wrangled over condemning Russia for the war, failed to reach a consensus on a joint statement and settled instead for a summary document.


The outcome was similar to a G20 summit meeting in Bali last November, when host Indonesia also issued a final declaration acknowledging differences.

Last July, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov walked out of a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, also in Bali, after the West strongly denounced the war.

The New Delhi meeting will be attended by Lavrov, US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Britain's James Cleverly, while China is expected to send its foreign minister, Qin Gang. In all, representatives of 40 countries, including non-G20 members invited by India, and multilateral organisations will attend.

The G20 bloc includes the wealthy G7 democracies, as well as Russia, China, India, Australia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia among other countries.

A meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad countries – the US, India, Australia and Japan – is also scheduled to be held on the sidelines.

Prime minister Narendra Modi's government wants to steer the focus of this week’s meeting to issues like climate change and the debt of developing nations, said an Indian foreign ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

India does not want Ukraine to dominate the event, but it will be top of the agenda, said the official. It is New Delhi's "intention to continue playing the voice of the Global South and raising issues pertinent to the region," the official added.

Blinken will highlight US efforts to address food and energy security issues affecting developing nations, said Ramin Toloui, the US assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.

The U.S. top diplomat also will "underscore the damage that Russia's war of aggression has caused" and encourage other nations to redouble calls for Russia to end the war, Toloui told reporters ahead of Blinken's travel to the meeting.

The foreign ministers' meeting will also be watched for how tensions between Washington and Beijing play out, including over the Ukraine war.

China, along with Russia, declined to sign the summary statement of the finance chiefs in Bengaluru.

Earlier on Monday, China accused the United States of "endangering" peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait after a U.S. P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance military plane flew through the sensitive waterway.

Strained relations

Ties between the world's two largest economies have been strained this month after the US military shot down what it says was a Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US. China says the balloon was a civilian research vessel that was accidentally blown off course, calling the US response an over-reaction.

The row prompted Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing.

China's top diplomat Wang Yi called the US handling of the balloon incident "unimaginable" and "hysterical".

New Delhi has sought to walk a delicate neutral line on the Russia-Ukraine war.

While Modi has told Russian president Vladimir Putin that it was not a time for war, India has refused to blame Moscow for the conflict, seeking a diplomatic solution and sharply boosting its purchases of Russian oil.

Differences over the conflict will be played out again at this week's meeting, said Anil Wadhwa, a former Indian diplomat and distinguished fellow at New Delhi’s Vivekananda International Foundation.

"It is unlikely that G20 foreign ministers can agree on common language suggesting ways and mechanisms to deal with the situation in Ukraine," he said.

"The reasons are many but the most important issue is that the situation in Ukraine has become extremely fluid."

(Reuters)

More For You

ve-day-getty

VE Day 80 street parties, picnics and community get togethers are being encouraged to take place across the country as part of the Great British Food Festival. (Photo: Getty Images)

Public invited to attend VE Day 80 procession and flypast

THE 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day will be marked with a military procession in London on May 5.

The event will include over 1,300 members of the Armed Forces, youth groups, and uniformed services marching from Parliament Square to Buckingham Palace.

Keep ReadingShow less
Knife crimes

Knife-enabled crimes include cases where a blade or sharp instrument was used to injure or threaten, including where the weapon was not actually seen.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Knife crime in London accounts for a third of national total: ONS

KNIFE-RELATED crime in London made up almost a third of all such offences recorded in England and Wales in 2024, with the Metropolitan Police logging 16,789 incidents, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday.

This amounts to one offence every 30 minutes in the capital and represents 31 per cent of the 54,587 knife-enabled crimes reported across England and Wales last year. The total number marks a two per cent rise from 53,413 offences in 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer and Modi

Starmer and Modi shake hands during a bilateral meeting in the sidelines of the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brazil, on November 18, 2024.

Getty Images

Starmer calls Modi over Kashmir attack; expresses condolences

PRIME MINISER Keir Starmer spoke to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning following the deadly attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam region that killed 26 people on Tuesday.

According to a readout from 10 Downing Street, Starmer said he was horrified by the devastating terrorist attack and expressed deep condolences on behalf of the British people to those affected, their loved ones, and the people of India. The two leaders agreed to stay in touch.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London, England. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Post Office spent £600m to keep Horizon despite plans to replace it: Report

THE POST OFFICE has spent more than £600 million of public funds to continue using the Horizon IT system, according to a news report.

Despite deciding over a decade ago to move away from the software, the original 1999 contract with Fujitsu prevented the Post Office from doing so, as it did not own the core software code, a BBC investigation shows.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pahalgam attack: Prayer meet held at Indian mission in London

The prayer meet was led by Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami

Pahalgam attack: Prayer meet held at Indian mission in London

Mahesh Liloriya

A PRAYER meet was held at the Gandhi Hall in the High Commission of India in London on Thursday (24) to pay respects to the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

Chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ rang out at the event which was led by Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami.

Keep ReadingShow less