Atlanta: Secretary of State Marco Rubio closed the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta on Saturday with a call to keep critical sea lanes open, secure supply chains and expand critical mineral supply chains.
“At the closing G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, I made clear to our partners that secure supply chains are essential for growth,” Rubio said in a post on X.
“Critical trade routes including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb Strait must remain secure and open to commerce. And we must continue to strengthen and expand critical mineral supply chains to protect our future,” he said.
The two-day meeting, hosted by the United States, was held on October 30-31. The State Department had said ahead of the meeting that the United States would work with G20 partners “to address geopolitical crises contributing to global economic shocks, including threats to freedom of navigation, energy and food security, and supply chains.”
Opening the plenary session on geopolitical issues on Friday, Rubio said the G20 was “facing a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises, many of which pose severe threats – severe threats to essential foundations of the global economic order.”
He pointed to “new disruptions and strains to global energy and food supplies – and food markets – to the global supply chain, trade, and freedom of navigation itself.” “And the G20 must work together to confront these threats, to strengthen our economic resilience, to safeguard our markets and the economies that they sustain,” Rubio said.
No chair’s statement or joint communique had been posted on the State Department website at the time of writing.
Sea-lane security was also raised by other participants. Italy, represented by Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Maria Tripodi, said the ministerial, held in three sessions, focused on freedom of navigation, food security, the resilience of global trade, energy security and the protection of supply chains.
“Freedom of navigation and the security of strategic maritime routes are fundamental to global economic stability, food and energy security,” Tripodi said, according to a statement by the Italian foreign ministry. She said Italy was in the front line in protecting them, including through the European naval missions EUNAVFOR Aspides and Atalanta.
On the eve of the meeting, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar shared a view on open waterways.
“As close partners, India & Germany are committed to the rules-based global order. My dear friend @DrSJaishankar and I agree that waterways must remain open & navigable to all, both in the Strait of Hormuz & the Black Sea. Global food & energy crises must be prevented,” Wadephul said on X.
EAM Jaishankar also attended a Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting hosted by Rubio in Atlanta on Saturday. Rubio said the Quad partners were “building reliable and open supply chains, supporting next-generation technologies, increasing maritime cooperation, and securing critical minerals.”
–IANS–
