New Delhi, Mar 1 : Russia said it supports India’s G20 presidency “in its commitment to promote a unifying agenda that will restore confidence in multilateral diplomacy and prevent the fragmentation of the global economy”, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in India for the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting.
Sergey Lavrov, who arrived at the head of the Russian delegation on a working visit from March 1-3, will meet with his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar.
Russia considers the G20 a prestigious forum for the world’s leading economies, a significant discussion platform on global governance, where balanced consensus decisions should be made in the interests of all humankind. Its participants account for about 80 percent of global GDP, international trade, and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as two-thirds of the world’s population, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.
“We support India’s G20 presidency in its commitment to promote a unifying agenda that will restore confidence in multilateral diplomacy and prevent the fragmentation of the global economy. We share the relevance of India’s stated priorities: ensuring inclusive and sustainable economic growth; accelerating progress towards the achievement of sustainable development goals; reforming multilateral institutions; digital modernisation; and increasing women’s economic engagement.
“Russia is active on all G20 ministerial tracks. We support India’s effort to improve working mechanisms and create specialised processes to respond to natural disasters and launch start-ups. We are ready to make a significant contribution to making progress in all these areas. We aim to work together with our Indian colleagues to achieve the desired result, showing the greatest possible flexibility.
“At the same time, we will firmly defend Russia’s fundamental interests and an international world order based on the central role of the UN and international law. We will strongly promote recognition of the new global realities that assert a multipolar system of relations between states.”
“..During the regular foreign ministers’ meeting we intend to firmly and openly talk about the reasons and instigators of the current serious problems in world politics and the global economy. We will focus on the attempts by the West to take revenge for the inevitable disappearance of the levers of dominance from its hands. We will also concentrate on its striving to continue receiving unilateral rent, in part, through unequal trade and violent interference in the affairs of sovereign states.
“The destructive policy of the US and its allies has already put the world on the brink of a disaster, provoked a rollback in socio-economic development and seriously aggravated the situation of the poorest countries. The entire world is suffering from the cynical revelry of illegal sanctions, the artificial breakup of cross-border supply chains, the imposition of notorious price ceilings and, in effect, from attempts to steal natural resources.
“The support structure of international law as a key regulator of interstate cooperation has been destroyed. The Western leaders have made it abundantly clear by disavowing the Minsk agreements and their previous promises not to expand NATO, and by launching the harassment of not only Russia but also individual Russian citizens, Russian athletes and companies.
“We are set to clearly state Russia’s assessments of the current security, energy and food situation. We will present an unbiased factual picture of the act of terrorism – the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the EU and NATO zone of responsibility, and the illegal seizing of Russian humanitarian fertiliser shipments designated for African and other needy countries. We will draw attention to the destructive barriers that the West is multiplying exponentially to block the export of goods that are of critical importance to the global economy, including energy sources and agricultural products.
“We will describe in detail Russia’s actions to reduce these threats and diversify foreign economic ties and logistics corridors.
“We will urge our constructive colleagues in the G20 to convert to national currencies, to align clearing and settlement mechanisms, and to create independent insurance plans and transport routes.
“We will emphasise the extreme demand for the Russian initiative on the Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP) as an integration foundation for consolidating the potential of the EAEU, SCO, ASEAN and other concerned associations, and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. We plan to advocate serious democratisation of global economic management institutions and expansion of the role of BRICS and other developing nations in making decisions within the Bretton-Woods structures and the WTO. We will support the African Union’s application for G20 permanent member status,” it said.
Sergey Lavrov and S. Jaishankar will discuss ways to further advance cooperation in key areas, as well as compare notes on the schedule of the upcoming contacts. Among the main topics of discussions – trade and investment, transport and logistics cooperation, the use of national currencies in mutual settlements, as well as promising projects in the energy sector.
The ministers will exchange assessments on topical international issues, including interaction under the Indian chairmanship in SCO and G20, as well as coordination of approaches within the UN, BRICS and RIC. A number of regional topics will be touched upon, including the creation of a security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, the state of affairs in Afghanistan, and the situation in Ukraine.
Sergey Lavrov will also take part in one of the sessions of the Raisina Dialogue, it added.
