Amid the ongoing India-China military stand-off in eastern Ladakh, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will visit New Delhi for the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting to be held on 1-2 March.
”At the invitation of External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar of the Group of 20 President India, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will attend the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Mar 2,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning was quoted as saying by the local media.
During his visit to New Delhi, Qin is also expected to have a bilateral meeting Jaishankar. The Indian side is likely to reiterate India’s position that relations between the two countries can never become normal until the ongoing stand-off at the border is amicably resolved.
Qin took over as China’s Foreign Minister towards the end of December last year, replacing Wang Yi, who is now a member of the all-powerful Politburo of the Communist Party of China and plays a bigger role in the country’s foreign policy.
The Chinese spokesperson said Beijing was willing to work with all parties to promote the G20 meeting, to send a positive signal on practicing multilateralism, maintaining food and energy security and strengthening development cooperation.
“The G20 should focus on prominent challenges in the global economy. China stands ready to work with all parties to ensure the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting sends a positive signal on multilateralism,” she added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the foreign ministers of the member countries of G20. The meeting will take place days after a meeting of finance chiefs of the bloc in Bengaluru.
The New Delhi meeting will be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, among other top foreign ministers. In all, representatives of 40 countries, including non-G20 members invited by India, and multilateral organisations will attend.