Beijing/New Delhi: Chinese Foreign minister Qin Gang will visit India this week to attend the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, the Chinese Foreign ministry announced on Tuesday as the two countries continue attempts to resolve the ongoing friction along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the eastern Ladakh area.
Foreign ministers of G20 countries will meet in New Delhi on March 1 and 2 to deliberate on pressing global challenges amid escalating confrontation between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict that entered the second year this week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, France’s Catherine Colonna, Chinese Foreign minister Qin Gang, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly are among those attending the India-hosted meeting.
European Union’s High Representative of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles, Italian Foreign minister Antonio Tajan, Australia’s Penny Wong, Saudi Foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Indonesia’s Retno Marsudi and Argentine Foreign minister Santiago Cafiero are among those attending the meeting.
However, Japanese Foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is unlikely to attend the G20 meeting in India from Wednesday, instead prioritising parliamentary business, according to a government official.
Qin, on the other hand, is expected to have a bilateral meeting with External Affairs minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the meet where they are likely to assess the situation at the disputed border and evaluate the outcomes of the diplomatic and military talks, which were recently held to resolve the boundary tension.
“At the invitation of Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will attend the G20 Foreign Ministers conference in New Delhi, India on March 2,” the Chinese Foreign ministry announced in a brief statement on Tuesday.
“As the main forum for international economic cooperation, the G20 should focus on addressing outstanding challenges in the field of international economy and development and play a greater role in promoting world economic recovery and global development,” Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning said on Tuesday.
“In a world fraught with uncertainties and struggling to reboot the economy, countries have much to do to overcome the challenges in order to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As the premier forum for international economic cooperation, it is important that the G20 focus on the prominent challenges in the global economy and on development and play a bigger role in driving world economic recovery and global development.”
China stands ready to work with all parties to ensure that the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting will send a positive signal on multilateralism, food and energy security and development cooperation, Mao added.
It remains unclear whether Hayashi will attend a Friday meeting of the Quad nations, consisting of the US and Australia, alongside India, according to the official, who asked not to be identified in line with policy. The news was reported earlier by Japanese media, including the ‘Nikkei’ newspaper. A deputy minister is likely to be dispatched in his place, the reports said.
Keeping the Foreign minister at home for a domestic matter could irritate Group of 20 host India. The move comes as Japan seeks to bolster security and other ties with Narendra Modi’s government amid growing concerns about China’s assertive behaviour in the region, as well as Russia’s war in Ukraine.