'Would not be correct to prejudge outcome of G20 foreign ministers' meeting'

Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday refused to speculate on whether the G20 foreign ministers meeting would be able to come out with a joint communique in the backdrop of widening differences between the West and Russia on the Ukraine conflictThe twoday G20 foreign ministers meeting begins this evening and the main discussions will take place on ThursdayIt would not be correct to prejudge the outcome of the meeting Kwatra said at a press conferenceGiven the developing situation of RussiaUkraine conflict it is expected it will be a point of discussion at the meeting he saidHe also said that the impact of the RussiaUkraine conflict on economic and development cooperation is an important issue for usAlso Read Indias G20 presidency Two day W20 inception meet in Maharashtras AurangabadThe meeting he said will deliberate on multilateralism food and energy security development cooperation and counterterrorismIt will be one of largest gathering of foreign ministers to be hosted by any G20 presidency Kwatra saidHe said around 40 delegations including 13 from international organisations are expected to participate in the G20 foreign ministers meetingUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Frances Catherine Colonna Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang Germanys Annalena Baerbock and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly are among those attending the Indiahosted meetingA number of foreign ministers of nonG20 countries including that of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are also attending the meet following Indias invitation as guestsThe foreign ministers are also likely to discuss ways to deal with falling economic growth increasing inflation lower demands for goods and services as well as increasing prices of food fuel and fertilisersHowever the major flashpoint between the West and RussiaChina combine is expected to be on the Ukraine conflict even as India is set to make all out efforts to bring out a joint statement following the crucial meetingRussia on Sunday alleged that the G20 finance ministers meeting in Bengaluru ended without a joint communique because of the confrontational approach towards Moscow by the collective West over the situation in UkraineThe G20 meeting of finance ministers and Central Bank governors on Saturday was unable to come out with a joint communique following opposition by Russia and China on making any references to the war in UkraineThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever