India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has emphasised the need for all G20 member nations to collectively address health, food and energy security challenges in an urgent, cooperative, non-politicised and equitable manner. Kant’s remarks at a two-day meeting of the G20 Sherpas in Labuan Bajo in Indonesia came in the midst of growing global concerns over food and energy crisis fuelled by the conflict in Ukraine.
The meeting hosted by Indonesia in its capacity as the chair of G20 concluded on Monday and it reviewed the progress made under various working groups of the G20 Sherpa track.
”He emphasised the importance of all G20 members collectively addressing health, food and energy security challenges expeditiously, in an urgent, cooperative, non-politicised and equitable manner,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The Western powers have been blaming Russia for the energy and food security concerns.
The MEA said Kant also spoke about the need to protect and promote interests of small and marginal farmers, and to mainstream sustainability into tourism sector besides highlighting the importance of data and digitalisation for development, empowerment, financial inclusion and sustainable job creation. In his interventions on various sector specific sessions such as health, agriculture, tourism, digital economy, energy, environment and climate, Kant reaffirmed India’s steadfast support to Indonesia during its G20 presidency.
He also outlined India’s achievements and experiences, and called for addressing global challenges in an ”inclusive, forward looking and cooperative manner”, the MEA said.
The meeting of the G20 Sherpas came two days after the foreign ministers of the member nations of the bloc held extensive deliberations on the pressing global challenges in a meeting in Bali. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the deliberations.
”On disaster risk, climate and environment issues, he (Kant) called for development and climate discourse to be considered holistically, on an equal footing, to ensure just transitions,” the MEA said.
”He highlighted the rapid strides made by India in scaling up renewable energy and reiterated India’s COP 26 commitments. On migration issues, he emphasized the need to further deepen international engagement and facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration,” he said.
The first Sherpa meeting under the Indonesian G20 Presidency was held on December 7 to 8 last year.
Kant also held bilateral interactions on the sidelines with all his G20 counterparts, guest countries and participating international organisations.
In these meetings, he shared India’s thinking on global issues and its forthcoming G20 presidency, and discussed ways to further support the Indonesian leadership to achieve its outcomes.
The G-20 is a leading grouping that brings together the world’s major economies. Its members account for more than 80 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of the population of the planet.
The members of the G20 are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union. Spain is also invited as a permanent guest.
India will assume the presidency of G20 in December.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
