Chinese, Indian foreign ministers hold bilateral talks as G20 meeting ends in disarray
- The engagement between two senior diplomats from neighbouring countries is of importance, given that they have been locked in a border stand-off since June 2020
- The visit, on the sidelines of the G20, comes at a time of geopolitical turmoil with heightened suspicions between Western democracies on the war in Ukraine
Jaishankar said the border dispute featured prominently in the talks.
“The thrust of the meeting was on the bilateral relationship and on the challenges in the relationship, especially on the peace and tranquility in the border areas,” he said at a media briefing after the meeting.
India had wanted its G20 presidency this year to focus on issues such as alleviating poverty and climate finance, but Russia’s war with Ukraine had crowded out other agenda items.
Jaishankar told a press conference that ministers at the G20 meeting had been unable to reach a joint declaration owing to divisions over the war in Ukraine. “On the issue, which very frankly concerned Ukraine conflict, there were divergences, there were differences, which we couldn’t reconcile between various parties,” he said.
Why Ukraine should stop criticising India and other well-meaning supporters
“It is but natural that your discussions are affected by the geopolitical tensions of the day. We all have our positions and perspectives of how these tensions should be resolved,” Modi said, without naming Russia or Ukraine. Jaishankar, too, in his opening speech in the meeting, did not refer to the war directly.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, addressing the meeting, blamed Russia for the lack of consensus. “Unfortunately, this meeting has again been marred by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine, deliberate campaign of destruction against civilian targets, and its attack on the core principles of the UN Charter,” he said.
Meanwhile, even though there was no joint statement, the Presidential Palace, where the meeting was held, saw hectic global diplomacy on Thursday.
Lavrov held bilateral meetings with Jaishankar, as well as with Qin. Jaishankar also held bilateral meetings with Blinken as well as with Borrell, on Wednesday.
The most surprising, unannounced meeting came in the form of a meeting between Blinken and Lavrov. Russian spokesperson Maria Zakharova confirmed the meeting but declined to call it a “full-fledged” meeting but just a “contact”.
“Blinken asked for ‘contact’ with Foreign Minister Lavrov during the second session, but there were no talks or full-fledged meeting,” she told reporters.
Thursday was the first time that the two ministers were in the same room since July.
Russia issued a strongly-worded statement following the meeting between Lavrov and Qin on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.
“A unanimous rejection was expressed of attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, to impose unilateral approaches through blackmail and threats, and to oppose the democratisation of international relations,” the Russian foreign ministry said.