New Delhi: External affairs minister S. Jaishankar said on Wednesday, September 6, that the decision of Presidents of Russia and China to not participate in the G20 summit does not have anything to do with India and will not impact the eventual outcome of the multilateral gathering.
Earlier this week, China announced it will be represented by Premier Li Qiang and not President Xi Jinping, who has not skipped any G20 summits except for ones that came during times when COVID-19 restrictions were in place. Last week, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s absence at New Delhi was also confirmed.
In an interview to news agency ANI, Jaishankar said that at different G20 summits, there have been variable participation.
“So, you had some occasions where you had a president or two, sometimes three who have not themselves come. But I do think, my sense from talking to the ministers, certainly, and I know the Sherpas are in touch with each other. They are right now trying to hammer out the final document. I think everybody is coming with a great deal of seriousness,” he said.
Also read: No Delhi Declaration? West Rejects India’s Compromise Text at G20 Sherpas Meeting
Asked whether Moscow and Beijing were “miffed” with India, Jaishankar denied it.
“No, no. I do not think it has anything to do with India. I think whatever decision they make…I mean they would know best. But I would not at all see it the way you would suggest,” he said.
The Indian minister also reiterated that the two leaders’ absence will have any impact on the outcome of the G20 summit.
“I would put it this way, the issues are there these are not issues that are this morning being taken up. I mean there is a whole gestation period of eight-nine months, where at different levels ministers or officials have tried to progress an issue. So, this is like a culmination you know, that is what this is really about. There are really about 16-18 processes which are all coming together to be stitched up together to produce a summit”.
He also reiterated that the efforts to get a consensus on a final declaration is still on. “Well, we are negotiating right now as I said the negotiation is not… The clock did not start ticking yesterday”.
While G20 sherpas are still discussing the text of the declaration, there has been no sign of compromise from either the West or Russia on the Ukraine issue. While both sides had agreed on a negotiated text at Bali last year, Russia and China had withdrawn their support soon after.
No joint statements have been issued after any of the G20 ministerial meetings held so far under the Indian presidency. Instead, India has been issuing a document termed as “chair’s summary and outcome document” to reflect that Russia and China do not want the G-20 grouping to talk about Ukraine or other geo-political conflicts.
On Tuesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also indicated that it will be difficult to release a Delhi declaration at the end of the summit on Sunday. “So, to get absolute consensus on a statement on Ukraine is challenging because you’ve got Russia seated at the table, albeit not at the leader level because Putin isn’t going to be there,” he told reporters at a White House briefing.