At the G20 summit in Indonesia’s Bali, the Indian delegation played a crucial role in achieving consensus among member states over the wording criticizing the Russian invasion, two officials familiar with the negotiations said. The draft statement echoed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Samarkand in September that “this is not an era of war”.
The draft also strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it was exacerbating fragilities in the global economy. Group of 20 (G20) leaders will assert that “today’s era must not be of war”, according to a draft communique. The draft statement, seen by the Financial Times and confirmed by two officials, said, “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy.”
“There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions,” said the draft declaration, which was confirmed by a European diplomat as per Reuters.
The summit, which host Indonesia and other countries have said should focus on the global economy, has instead been overshadowed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Recognising that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy,” the draft declaration said.
PM Modi spoke to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy several times about ending hostilities, taking recourse to dialogue and diplomacy, and affirming that “this is not an era of war”. On October 5, he spoke again to Zelenskyy, expressing to him his conviction that there can be no military solution to the conflict. He also spoke of the importance India attached to the safety and security of nuclear installations and conveyed New Delhi’s readiness to contribute to any peace efforts.
PM Modi’s remarks were widely applauded by the western countries. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had lauded PM Modi’s remarks and said he “couldn’t agree more”, with the Indian PM’s statement that “this is not an era or the time for war”.
On October 14, Putin spoke to the press at Astana and noted that India and China always talk about the need to establish a dialogue and resolve everything peacefully and that Russia respects their position, observed that Ukraine has now “made an official position that prohibits negotiations”.
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