Priorities of Global South central to modalities of G20, says Foreign Secretary

Addressing a pre-G20 summit press conference, he, replying to a question on Russia and China being seen as a separate block within G20 and concerns between Global South and independent economies, said: "Yes, independent economies come from a different economic base, but priorities of Global South are central to the priorities and modalities of G20." He added that India has been on the forefront of speaking on priorities of the Global South at various platforms. On India being under pressure during negotiations for the final declaration, the Foreign Secretary said that India's aim is to build consensus among all member nations and this will reflect in the final outcome document of the G20 summit. Replying to a question on whether the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin from the G20 summit could lead to removal of Ukraine conflict's reference from the final outcome document, Kwatra said that the priority should be multilateral. "There should be consensus, which needs to be representative, accountable, transparent and inclusive and it will be ensured that this reflects in the final declaration," he said. On the inclusion of the African Union in the G20, the Foreign Secretary said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had written to all the member nations regarding this. "The Prime Minister had written to all member nations to accept African Union as a full member. I hope all member nations will take it into consideration," Kwatra said. --IANS ans/vd

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