‘Multilateralism Is In Crisis Today’: PM Narendra Modi At G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting

NEW DELHI, Mar 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that multilateralism is in crisis today but emphasized that the G20 has capacity to build consensus and deliver concrete results. “Experience of last few years – financial crisis, pandemic, terror, wars – shows global governance has failed in its mandates,” PM Modi said while virtually addressing the meeting of foreign ministers of G20 nations. “We are meeting at a time of significant global divisions. Naturally, this foreign ministers' meeting will be affected by the geo-political tensions of the day,” the PM said. “India has selected the theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future' for it's G20 presidency. It signals the need for unity of purpose and unity of action,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi said that India as G20 president has tried to give a voice to the global south. “Developing countries are the ones most affected by global warming caused by richer countries. India has tried to give voice to global south during its G20 presidency. No group can claim global leadership without listening to those most affected by its decisions,” PM Modi said. “As you meet in the land of Gandhi and the Buddha, I pray that you will draw inspiration from India's civilisational ethos – to focus not on what divides us, but on what unites us,” Modi said. The foreign ministers from the world's largest industrialised and developing nations gathered to hold crucial deliberations on key global challenges at the meeting which many diplomats believed could be a contentious one as it is taking place amid increasing rift between the US-led West and the Russia-China combine on the Ukraine conflict.