Washington, Nov 1 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India hopes the G-20 grouping can find common ground by its summit in December.
Speaking to a group of Indian reporters in Atlanta on Saturday at the end of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, EAM Jaishankar was asked about the consensus India achieved when it hosted the G20.
“We haven’t yet reached that stage (of Summit). So we’ll have to see when we come to the summit in December,” he said.
“But obviously, it’s our hope that G20 do produce common ground. And if an effort is made, then it’s within the realm of possibility,” EAM Jaishankar said.
He cited the BRICS grouping as an example. “I mean, you saw even at BRICS in a somewhat different context with somewhat different players, we were able to actually get the key participants to agree on common statement,” he said.
“So I think that effort would be made as we come closer to December. And obviously, we will be supportive,” he said.
EAM Jaishankar was also asked about an earlier remark describing the US as “the lone power”, and whether that sentiment was shared at the G20.
He said that remark had been made in a different setting. “I was talking in a very different context. I was talking to the Munich Security Conference delegation. That kind of event is very different from this kind of event,” he said.
“This is a gathering of foreign ministers. That was not a gathering of foreign ministers. There, I was addressing analysts and policymakers. So I think what you say depends on what the event is,” EAM Jaishankar said.
He said ministers at the meeting had recognised India’s ability to engage all sides.
“I would say there was a general appreciation. That India was a country in a somewhat polarized world today. We have the ability to talk to all sides. We are contributing. We are bridging. We are communicating. I think that sense, that appreciation was there,” he said.
On the Quad, which met at foreign minister level in Atlanta on Saturday morning, he said “this is in fact the third foreign ministers meeting this year. We had one in Delhi, then we had one in Manila”.
“We felt we have really progressed the Quad, and we hope the Quad will meet in a manner in which we’d be able to set directions for the future. Think in terms of expanding its agenda,” EAM Jaishankar said.
He said he had held bilateral meetings with “pretty much with everybody”, some of them one-to-one and some in groups.
–IANS
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