External affairs minister S Jaishankar met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly high-level week in New York on Monday, where the two discussed India’s G20 presidency, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, and the reform of the international financial architecture.
The minister will speak at the UNGA on Tuesday, but has been engaged in close bilateral consultations with partners and friends over the past four days since arriving in New York.
After meeting the UNSG, who was in Delhi for the G20 summit and had also visited last year to attend the launch of PM Narendra Modi’s Mission LiFE initiative, Jaishankar tweeted, “Discussed how India’s G20 Presidency has contributed to strengthening @UN’s sustainable development agenda. We have coordinated closely in this regard over the last year. Appreciate UNSG’s strong commitment to reforming International Financial Institutions.”
The lack of progress in achieving SDGs, and the need for greater resources and financing felt by most of the developing world to achieve these targets, was both a prominent theme of India’s G20 presidency and has been a key talking point over the past week at the UN.
The Indian presidency also took forward the issue of the reform of multilateral development banks (MDBs) during its G20 presidency; Guterres too has been a supporter of the expansion of the mandate of the World Bank to include battling climate and transboundary challenges while retaining the focus on battling poverty and has underscored the need to form greater financial resources for MDBs to be more effective.
The minister and top UN bureaucrat are also understood to have discussed the war in Ukraine and the Black Sea Grain Initiative — the UN has been among the architects of the initiative and the Indian G20 presidency saw, in the Delhi declaration, a consensual statement reaffirming the need for the initiative to resume with an eye on global food security in general and food security in Africa in particular.
All these themes tie in with India’s decision to use its perch at the UN, and as the G20 presidency, to articulate the issues of the wider global south. This resonated in other meetings too.
On Monday morning, Jaishankar also met United Nations general Assembly president Dennis Francis. The minister welcomed “his appreciation of the outcomes of India’s G20 Presidency”and expressed the confidence that it would contribute to the UNGA’s discourse and deliberations.
“Agreed on the importance of reforming multilateralism and giving the Global South its due on crucial issues of our times,” said Jaishankar. At an event hosted by the permanent mission of India to deepen the India-UN partnership to deliver development to the global south, Francis had called the Indian presidency of G20 a “historic milestone”, and welcomed the African Union’s inclusion in the group as a “a strong symbol of solidarity and cooperation across the Global South”. He had said that India’s legacy of contribution was a “guiding light” and acknowledged that he was following in the footsteps of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the first woman president of the general assembly who was from India.
“Our enduring partnership, from the UN’s heart to India’s remotest villages, serves as an inspiration to the Global South,” Francis had said.
Jaishankar also continued his bilateral engagements with both partners across north America and Indian Ocean and geographies in turmoil including the Caucasus over the weekend and Monday morning.
On Monday, the Indian minister met Yvette Sylla, his counterpart from Madagascar, a key country in the Indian Ocean. “Discussed development partnership, millets and rice production, digital delivery and defense cooperation,” the EAM posted on X.
On Sunday, he met Armenia’s foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan. Jaishankar appreciated the Armenian minister sharing his assessment of the situation in the Caucasus and affirmed their strong bilateral relationship. Mirzoyan was more explicit, tweeting, “Discussed security situation in #SouthCaucasus & Azerbaijani aggression in #NagornoKarabakh. Stressed imperative for clear steps to restrain efforts to destabilize the region & prevent another ethnic cleansing.”
Jaishankar also met his Bosnia and Herzegovina counterpart, Elmedin Konakovic and said that they discussed their growing ties with a focus on trade and economy.
With Mexico’s foreign minister Alicia Barcena, Jaishankar talked about “taking forward our Privileged Partnership focusing on business, science & technology, education, economy and traditional medicine”, and discussed reforming multilateralism and G20, of which Mexico is a member.
On Saturday, Jaishankar had also met Cambodia’s PM Hun Manet. “Discussed the progress of our development partnership. Noted as well our expanding defence and cultural cooperation. Exchanged views on Myanmar,” Jaishankar said.
Cambodia is one of China’s closest partners in the region, but its membership of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and role in Myanmar makes it important to engage with.
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