Jaishankar slams ‘double standards’ on conflicts at G20 FMs meeting

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday hit out at what he described as “double standards” in the global response to conflicts, warning that the fallout was being disproportionately borne by the Global South.

Speaking at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit, Jaishankar stressed that international peace and development were closely intertwined and must not be undermined by selective approaches.

Citing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, he said the impact on energy, food and fertiliser security had starkly exposed vulnerabilities in developing countries. “Apart from jeopardising supplies and logistics, access and cost themselves became pressure points on nations. Double standards are clearly in evidence,” he noted.

Arguing that threatening development cannot bring peace, the minister urged a stronger push towards dialogue and diplomacy rather than steps that risk aggravating fragile economic situations. “Making energy and other essentials more uncertain in an economically fragile situation helps no one,” he warned.

Jaishankar underlined that certain nations capable of engaging both sides in conflicts should be utilised to facilitate peace and its maintenance. He also flagged terrorism as a “perennial disruptor of peace” and reiterated that the world must show neither tolerance nor accommodation towards terrorist activities.

“Given the extensive networking among terrorists, those who act against them on any front actually render a larger service to the international community as a whole,” he said.