The New World Order has failed, says the Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday, at the opening of a G20 meeting in New Delhi, that multilateral institutions have “failed” to deal with the urgent challenges facing the world. “We have to recognize that multilateralism is in crisis today,” Modi emphasized in a pre-recorded statement at the opening of a meeting of the foreign affairs ministers of the G20 countries. “The experience of these past years—financial crisis, climate change, pandemic, terrorism, and war—clearly shows that world governance has failed,” Modi continued. The Russian invasion of Ukraine would dominate the meeting of foreign ministers of the main world powers, the Indian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Shri Vinay Kwatra, admitted to the media on Wednesday. In September, the Indian prime minister told Russian President Vladimir Putin that “this is not the time for war”, statements perceived at the time as a criticism of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine. On Thursday, Modi strongly urged delegates to work toward an understanding and overcome differences.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also said the G20 must hold Russia accountable for the “negative consequences for almost every country on the planet”. “We need to deliver solutions that protect the most vulnerable, instead of leaving them to suffer from Russia’s war,” she said. The New Delhi meeting is being attended by 40 delegations, including those headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. On Wednesday, Blinken said he had no plans to meet either minister. Ties between Washington and Beijing are strained over Ukraine, as well as the US shooting down last month what it said was a Chinese spy balloon that had drifted over North America. The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting comes after a gathering of finance ministers in Bengaluru last month failed to agree on a joint statement on the war. At that meeting, Modi called on leading economies to help the world’s most vulnerable people and “bring back stability, confidence and growth to the global economy”. The lack of consensus at the gathering of finance officials mirrored the outcome of last November’s G20 summit in Bali, when host Indonesia released a declaration acknowledging differences between countries.
By Sara Colin
