India's foreign minister Jaishankar confirms Ukraine has not been invited to G20 summit

India's foreign minister Jaishankar confirms Ukraine has not been invited to G20 summit

India remains non-committal to inviting Ukraine to the G20 summit, scheduled to be held later this year in New Delhi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a special briefing on Thursday to mark nine years of the Narendra Modi government wherein he made it clear that no invitation had been sent to Ukraine.

“G20 is only for members. Haven’t reviewed the list nor has anyone talked to us about it,” said Jaishankar.

The EAM confirmed invites for the summit had been sent, immediately after India assumed the presidency. The statement by Jaishankar effectively brings an end to rumours that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may get the opportunity to address the G20 countries during the summit.

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Jaishankar’s statement should not come as a surprise as he has previously iterated that G20 was not a platform to debate international peace and security.

“I think our contribution was to get G20 back to the G20’s real business. The G20 is not the UN Security Council. It is not the primary forum to debate international peace and security,” Jaishankar had said during an event in March.

He added issues such as international peace and security did matter, but other issues such as food and energy security, green financing for nations took prominence on the G20 stage.

“We actually got something novel for the G20 to look at — Global Skills Mapping. Where are the skills in the world and where is the demand in the world. They are in two different geographies. So, how do we actually put that together? I think that is a very interesting avenue which we have opened up for G20.”

Kyiv’s attempts to secure participation 

In April, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign affairs minister Emine Dzhaparova visited New Delhi and attempted to set the ball rolling for Ukraine’s participation in the G20 summit.

“I think India is a global player. It is really a ‘Vishwaguru’ of the world. We are feeling the pain by actually fighting for the values. This is about justice… Russia is questioning the very existence of my country. In our history of 1,500 years, Ukraine never attacked any country,” said Dzheppar.

However, the statement by Jaishankar may have come as a blow to Kyiv’s hopes.

WATCH | Indian PM Modi speaks to Ukraine President Zelensky

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A tall order 

Zelensky addressing the G20 summit was always going to be a tall order, especially considering Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the meet in New Delhi.

Even after the foreign ministers’ meeting held in March, India said the differences over Ukraine “could not be reconciled”.

“We tried, but the gap between the countries was too much,” said Jaishankar.

Notably, the G20, which includes the world’s 19 wealthiest nations plus the European Union, accounts for 85 per cent of global economic output and two-thirds of its population.

(With inputs from agencies)

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