External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on a visit to the United States, on Saturday (September 23) described the recently concluded G20 Summit as “challenging” due to a “very sharp East-West polarisation” and a “very deep North-South divide”.

Jaishankar said that India was determined that India’s Presidency was able to get back to its core agenda of global growth.

Addressing India-UN for Global South: Delivering for Development in New York, , the EAM said, “We meet just a few weeks after the New Delhi G20 Summit. A Summit which took place on the theme of One Earth, One Family, One World. It was a challenging Summit, it was a challenging presidency because we were confronting a very sharp East-West polarisation and a very deep North-South divide. But we were very determined as the Presidency of the G20 to make sure that this organization on which the world really had put so much hope and was able to get back to its core agenda”.

Jaishankar said that it was appropriate for India to start the G20 Presidency by convening the voice of the Global South Summit.

“And its core agenda was of global growth and development. So it was appropriate that we started our G20 Presidency by convening the voice of the Global South Summit. An exercise which involved 125 nations of the south of which most of you in some capacity participated,” Jaishankar said.

EAM underlines issues concerning Global South

The Minister highlighted the issues confronting the Global South and mentioned the consequences of COVID pandemic and international economy.

“Now, during the course of that exercise and the deliberations which took place through the various ministerial tracks and engagement groups, it was very clear to us that the Global South, in addition to bearing the consequences of structural inequities and historical burdens, was plagued by the impact of … and economic concentration, was suffering from the devastating consequences of the COVID and was … by conflict, tensions and disputes which have stressed and distorted the international economy,” he said.

Jaishankar said that the geopolitical contests are today leaving an impact on the basic requirements of several nations.

“With each passing day, in fact, it has become clearer to us that today geopolitical calculations and geopolitical contests are impacting very basic requirements of many countries, including their affordable access to food, to fertilizers and to energy,” Jaishankar said. 

Earlier, EAM S Jaishankar along with United Nations General Assembly President Dennis Francis and foreign ministers of other nations arrived to attend the India-UN for Global South: Delivering for Development.

Jaishankar on G20 Delhi Declaration

The EAM said that there were many who were surprised that India got every nation together on the Delhi Declaration that was adopted on the day 1 of the Summit on September 9 while stressing that India got the countries to refocus on the global growth.

“On the G20 Summit, a lot of folks were still surprised that we actually got everybody together. I don’t think they completely expected that. So there’ll be one set of people who are still wondering how that happened. The other part, which I think includes some people with me here now has appreciated that we got the G20 to focus on the Global South and that the job for which the G20 was created, which was global growth and development, we got them to refocus on it and with particular attention to the Global South. We did that partly by organizing a Global South summit in advance,” he said.

Jaishankar is on a 9-day visit to the US where he would attend the UNGA on September 26. He will then travel to Washington, DC.

(With ANI inputs)

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