Atlanta: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar told the first plenary session of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta that military solutions would not resolve global challenges and that diplomacy must be given a chance, while warning that the Global South was paying a disproportionate price for attacks on shipping.
“Pleased to participate in the 1st Plenary of @g20org Foreign Ministers’ Meeting #Atlanta today. Emphasised that in the face of global challenges, military solutions will not work and diplomacy must be given a chance,” EAM Jaishankar said on social media platform X on Friday after the session.
He said the “Global South is disproportionately bearing the consequences of attacks on civilian shipping and seafarers, jeopardising the availability and cost of fuel, food and fertilisers”.
EAM Jaishankar also pointed to the “urgent need to preserve the freedom of navigation and ensure cessation of attacks within the framework of international law, especially UNCLOS”.
“India and Liberia have launched a joint initiative to safeguard seafarers,” he said.
On trade, the Minister made a pointed case for developing economies.
“Right to industrialise is being denied through the flooding of markets, weaponising supply chains, constricting market access and encouraging market distortions. This must cease,” he said in the post.
He also stressed the “importance of building resilient and alternate connectivity, as the world de-risks and diversifies”.
EAM Jaishankar raised terrorism as well.
“Tactical calculations should not lead to overlooking the dangers of terrorism. It is a high-risk activity which has come back to bite even the practitioners,” he wrote.
He did not name any country in the social media post.
The session was hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said afterwards on X that he had “made clear that maritime and food security drive economic security”.
According to a preliminary transcript of his opening remarks, Rubio told Ministers the plenary would cover “freedom of navigation and food security”.
Earlier on Friday, EAM Jaishankar posted photographs with other Foreign Ministers, saying: “With colleagues at @g20org #Atlanta.”
The two-day meeting ends on Saturday.
EAM Jaishankar is also expected to take part in a Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting and hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines, as announced by Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
(IANS)
