G20 Finance Ministers meeting

Bangalore (India) (EFE) for a clear condemnation.

The finance ministers and central bank governors held today the last session of the meeting on “Global Economy, Health, and international taxation”, before presenting the adopted agreement and the conclusions of the event, in the first high-level meeting of the presidency of India from the G20.

The final declaration of the meeting seeks to bridge the differences of the group, and will be presented by the Indian Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, towards the end of the afternoon today.

However, sources close to the discussions consulted by EFE assured that the adoption of a final decision will be determined in the next few hours.

The meeting takes place on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the same week that India abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for a “cessation of hostilities” in that country and withdrawal. of the Russian troops, which ended up garnering 141 votes in favour.

India’s position on the conflict is seen as one of the biggest impediments for the G20 ministers to end the meeting with the unanimous adoption of a declaration that also addresses other fundamental issues such as the over-indebtedness of countries, the reform of multilateral organizations, and mechanisms to assist countries in crisis.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the meetings yesterday with a video message in which he referred to the moment of hostility but did not refer to Russia, despite the fact that the meeting took place on the same day as the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. . So far neither Modi nor his government representatives have made direct comments on the Russian invasion.

At the close of business yesterday, the French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, demanded a firm condemnation of the Russian invasion, or else announced that he will oppose any joint statement that dilutes the rejection expressed by the group in Bali on last year.

The US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, also referred to differences with those nations that have not been firm in condemning and isolating Moscow, comments also seen as an allusion to India and China that have seen increasing trade relations with Russia.