Politics

Foreign ministers arrive for G20 meet in Indian capital

New Delhi, Mar 1 (EFE).- Diplomatic heads from across the world began arriving in New Delhi for the first meeting of foreign ministers of G20 nations on Wednesday, amid tensions over the Ukrainian war.

The meeting officially kicks off late Wednesday with a welcome dinner, and then important discussions are to take place the following day.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in the Indian capital in the morning, according to a Twitter post by Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

Besides taking part in the events under the G20 meeting, Lavrov is expected to hold bilateral meetings with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Russia has also expressed a special interest in meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who on Tuesday confirmed his participation in person at the forum.

The first meeting of finance ministers last week coincided with the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where the G20 appeared divided at the end of the meeting without a joint agreement, after China sided with Russia in refusing to condemn the war.

The European Union’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell was among the first ones to arrive in India, where he underlined that the war was reaching beyond the borders of Europe, and called upon the international community to ensure that international law prevails, according to an exclusive interview with Indian Express newspaper.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to attend Thursday’s meetings, but is not expected to land in New Delhi in time for the welcome dinner.

Increasing diplomatic tension between Washington and Beijing is expected to impact the proceedings of the meeting of G20 foreign ministers, after friction between the two countries over the “spy” balloons.

Moreover, the foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) – a multilateral group made up of the US, Australia, Japan and India, to counterbalance China in the region – are scheduled to meet in New Delhi on Friday.

Others to land in the Indian capital for the G20 meet were British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, and the foreign ministers of Brazil, Mauro Vieira; South Korea, Park Jin; and Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, according to Bagchi.

The G20 is made up of Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, United States, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and the European Union.

Guest nations under India’s presidency include Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. EFE

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