Russia-Ukraine issue won't affect G-20 business: India

Replying to questions on the Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on G20 business, Kant said, We are friends with every single country that is a member of the G20. We openly raise our issues.

India on Thursday said the Russia-Ukraine issue cannot hold other key topics back in the ongoing meetings being held under its G20 presidency. Quoting the statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier, the Sherpa of the country, Amitabh Kant, however, reiterated that this is the era of diplomacy and not an era of war. After holding an hour-long bilateral meeting with Russia on the sidelines of the second Sherpa meeting underway in this scenic village in Kottayam district, Kant said the world was facing many challenges post COVID-19 pandemic and G20 is responsible for addressing them. ''There is a challenge of the post COVID impact of 200 million people going below the poverty line, there is a challenge of 100 million people having lost their jobs, there is a challenge of global debts, there is a challenge of climate action; there is a challenge of recession in one-third of the economy; and there is a challenge of global debt impacting 75 countries in the world,'' he said. Kant said these are far more important issues impacting the rest of the world, and ''we work with every single country'' to address them. ''Afterall, the one issue, the Russia-Ukraine issue, cannot hold many other issues back'', he said. Replying to questions on the Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on G20 business, Kant said, ''We are friends with every single country that is a member of the G20.'' ''We openly raise our issues. They raise their concerns, and we decide to discuss them further and take things forward. ''We are still in the discussion stage with them. We have raised concerns of emerging markets, we have raised concerns about the developing world,'' he said. The Sherpa of India also said the war may have impacted a part of the world but there are many other issues for the rest of the world. Kant expressed hope that Kumarakom meetings will provide ''peace and serenity to all delegates '' attending them.. He also hoped that the ''Kumarakom backwaters will enable'' the member nations to take the challenges of the world forward.