G20 Ministerial under India's Presidency ends without communique after no consensus on war in Ukraine

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, February 25

The first G20 Ministerial under India’s Presidency could not release a Joint Communique due to reservations from Russia and China. Instead a chair summary and outcome document written by India was released, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after the end of the two-day meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday.

The outcome document dealt with the thorny issue of the Ukraine conflict by stating that while a Finance Ministers’ meeting was not the forum to resolve security issues, “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine”. The outcome document said the Members could not agree over enrolling G20members for G7 sanctions because “there were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions”.

The outcome document also spoke out strongly against the use or threat of nuclear weapons and incorporated PM Narendra Modi’s observation that “today is not the era of war”. The two paras pertaining to Ukraine were taken from the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration of November last year and were agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China.

The outcome document written by India said though G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, these can have significant consequences for the global economy. Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy.

“It is essential to uphold international law and the multilateral system. 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,” said the document.

The upcoming meeting of Foreign Ministers of G20 countries to be held here next month is slated to see renewed and fiercer sparring on the Ukraine issue in the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

On its main remit, the outcome document said the global economic outlook has modestly improved. However, risks to the outlook could worsen debt vulnerabilities in many Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs).

It also noted the total global ambition of $ 100 billion of voluntary contributions for countries most in need of IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST).

It set timelines for the submission of reports on supervision and regulation of crypto assets, and roadmaps by IMF etc. on their financial capacity at the third meeting of G20 Finance Ministers under Indian Presidency. A Group will also work on consequences and impacts of food and energy insecurity.