New Delhi:
While Chinese President Xi Jinping remained absent from the virtual G20 summit on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said it is up to the country to decide who will represent them.
Jaishankar said Prime Minister Li Qiang also represented China at the G20 summit in the national capital in September.
“It is up to a country to decide who represents them, and Prime Minister Li Qiang had also represented them at the G20 summit in New Delhi, so they chose to go ahead with that…,” Jaihshankar said at the closing event on Wednesday press conference of the G20.
The EAM further said that the Indian chairmanship of the G20 was globally south-oriented and had brought development back to the center of the G20.
He said: ‘There was one point, I think, that we would all have noted today, a very clear recognition, that India’s G20 presidency had a global South focus, and that it had brought development back, honestly, square and central to the world. I think this was a very widely supported idea, not only among the G20 members, but also among international organizations.”
He revealed that G20 members welcomed the understanding reached on critical issues, including the release of hostages, the flow of aid to Gaza and a temporary pause in fighting. Leaders expressed strong sentiment towards ensuring implementation of agreed commitments.
“G20 members generally welcome the understanding reached on the release of hostages, the flow of aid into Gaza and some pause in fighting.”
“So overall, there was a strong sentiment among the leaders to ensure the implementation of the agreed arrangements,” the foreign minister added.
The press conference was also addressed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant and official MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
Highlighting the issues related to the G20’s financial trajectory, Sitharaman said: “Each of the five key agenda items discussed over the past year were reiterated. They were welcomed…MDB reforms, digital public infrastructure, the cryptocurrency roadmap. assets, climate finance and financing the cities of tomorrow. On all these agendas, as reflected in the Delhi Declaration, there was overwhelming appreciation and willingness to continue this in the next presidency…”
“Several MDBs are already exploring opportunities to collaborate with each other in areas such as innovative financing. The report of the international expert group is welcomed. Many aspects are already on track and the boards are working on them for each of the banks. .,” she added.
While G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant underlined that the number of things that were taken over by India are now all being taken over by Brazil.
He said: “Today we had 22 heads of government and all the heads of international organizations participating. So it was a very well attended virtual conference. Secondly, as the G20 works in continuity, our focus since September 9 and 10 has been on implementation.”
“Many things have been implemented domestically and we are pushing for implementation. Some of the things we have picked up are all being continued by Brazil. Brazil’s theme is building a fair world and a sustainable future. And among them, most of what we announced in the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, we will push for implementation under the Brazilian Presidency,” he noted.
The virtual G20 summit took place under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Modi. The 18th G20 Leaders’ Summit took place in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.
The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration was unanimously adopted, demonstrating the G20 leaders’ commitment to tackling global challenges in an inclusive, decisive and action-oriented manner.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)