The ongoing conflict in Ukraine and its effect on food and energy supply is likely to dominate the G-20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting next week. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will attend the conclave in Bali ahead of the G-20 summit to be held in November.
Indonesia is hosting the summit and is keen that Russian President Vladimir Putin also attend the high-profile event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other world leaders will take part in it. Indonesia is the Chair of G-20 this year while India will head it next year and host the summit.
At the Foreign Ministers meet on July seven and eight, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be present. Indonesia has also invited Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba for the event.
Incidentally, Indonesian President Joko Widodo held bilateral talks with Modi last week on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Germany. The two leaders discussed the G-20 chairmanship. India is the chair of the grouping for next year and will hold the summit in Delhi. The Indonesian President recently visited Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and Moscow.
India has all along favoured dialogue and diplomacy to end the Ukraine conflict. Modi reiterated this stand on Friday in his talks on the telephone with Putin. The two leaders have talked to each other on the phone four times since the Russian military action in Ukraine started on February 24. Modi had also urged Putin to hold one on one talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.