Here's what blocked G-20 Foreign Ministers' joint declaration

New Delhi: The G20 joint declaration for the second time running in the G20 important meetings in New Delhi could not be issued and was replaced by the chair's summary and outcome document of the summary of the proceedings. The disagreement on the Russia -Ukraine crisis continued.

In a chairs' summary and Outcome document issued after the end of the two-day meeting of the foreign minister, it read, “G20 Foreign Ministers agreed to paragraphs 1, 2 and paragraphs 5 to 24. Paragraphs 3 and 4 were objected to both by Russian and China ministers hence the joint document was not issued.“

Objections in Paragraph 3

Part of Paragraph 3 read, “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy – constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks.

“There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. Recognizing that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, 1 Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this document, as taken from the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration (15-16 November 2022), were agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China."

The document further read, “we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy.”

Objections in Paragraph 4

Paragraph 4 read, “It is essential to uphold international law and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability. This includes defending all the Purposes and Principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and adhering to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians and infrastructure in armed conflicts.”

“The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital. Today's era must not be of war.”

The footnote of the release said, “Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this document, as taken from the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration (15-16 November 2022), were agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov while speaking to the media after the meeting said that Group of 20 talks would not issue a joint declaration with host India, instead releasing a summary.

"The declaration was blocked, and the outcome of the discussion will be described in the summary that the Indian presidency would speak about," Lavrov told reporters through an interpreter after the talks in New Delhi.

The Russian Foreign Minister and US Secretary clashed on the Ukraine crisis.

On February 25, the meeting of the finance ministers for the G20 countries was held at Bengaluru and ended without a joint statement. Most G20 member nations condemned the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, but China and Russia declined to sign the joint statement.

Earlier, while inaugurating the G20 meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "You are meeting at a time of deep global divisions. As Foreign Ministers, it is natural that your discussions are affected by the geopolitical tensions of the day. We all have our positions and our perspectives on how these tensions should be resolved."

He added, "The world looks upon the G20 to ease the challenges of growth; development; economic resilience; disaster resilience; financial stability; transnational crime; corruption; terrorism; and food and energy security. In all these areas, the G20 has the capacity to build consensus and deliver concrete results. We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can."

It is a testing time for the Indian leadership

Like the "Bali declaration", the world expects India to be able to play a neutral role and do maximum in building a bridge to erase the gap between the West and Russia. Can India, in the meeting, arrive at a consensus-driven outcome ahead of the central G20 summit in September 2023?

It will be a great success and recognition for India if they achieve even ten per cent of the success in ironing out differences over the Ukraine conflict that are so visibly divided.

Will India be able to mediate and bring all parties to an agreement? Some media reports suggest that India, under the leadership of the Indian Prime Minister, is already using its offices with the top leadership to bring some solution to the crisis.

Also Read: Is Modi working to end the Russia-Ukraine war before the G20 summit?

It remains a big challenge, and all eyes are on India to maintain good relations with Russia and the West and get some results in coordinating the two sides of the dispute.

It is more challenging when the tug of war between the US and its Western allies versus Russia and China over the conflict in Ukraine intensifies, with no one willing to compromise.