China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang is expected to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar
Sandeep Dikshit
New Delhi, February 28
Barring Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Foreign ministers of G20 countries will meet here on Wednesday and Thursday to deliberate on pressing global challenges, including mounting debt burden and the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has crossed one year.
Amidst the sparring over Ukraine, of great interest will be the arrival of China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Qin is expected to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss the border issues and review the outcome of talks at diplomatic and military levels to resolve the issue.
“As the main forum for international economic cooperation, the G20 should focus on addressing outstanding challenges in the field of international economy and development and play a greater role in promoting world economic recovery and global development,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
A Quad ministerial meeting will also be held while several Foreign Ministers will hold bilateral talks with Jaishankar. Many of the Foreign Ministers will also attend the Raisina Dialogue.
Other issues on the agenda are multilateralism, food and energy security and development cooperation, counter-terrorism, new and emerging threats, global skill mapping and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, France’s Catherine Colonna, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly are among those attending the India-hosted meeting.
European Union’s High Representative of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajan, Australia’s Penny Wong, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Indonesia’s Retno Marsudi and Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero are also among those attending the meeting.
A number of foreign ministers of non-G20 countries, including that of the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are also attending the meet following India’s invitation as guests.
Border issues at bilateral talks
- China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang is expected to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar
- They are likely to discuss border issues and review the outcome of talks at diplomatic and military levels to resolve the issue