BENGALURU, India: Indian officials hosting the Group of 20 finance chiefs this week are seeking to avoid using the word “war” in any joint statement when referring to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a person familiar with the matter said.
That would mark a divergence from the consensus reached by leaders in Bali last November when Indonesia chaired the group. The person said using words like “crisis” will be more acceptable.
Indian officials are also worried that any further plans by some countries to impose additional sanctions on Russia will draw attention away from the other priorities of the G-20 meetings, according to the person who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public.
An Indian finance ministry spokesperson declined to comment when asked about the matter.
The move would be a step back from the language used in a November G-20 statement, when top leaders including US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping met in Bali.
That G-20 leaders’ statement said that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine”, while acknowledging “other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions”.
Leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in Bangkok used the same language nearly word-for-word in a communique several days later.
Reopening the debate over language referring to the Russian war in Ukraine risks overshadowing India’s other goals as host this year.
In the highest-profile event of India’s G-20 presidency so far, finance chiefs and central bankers will meet in the southern city of Bengaluru on Friday and Saturday to discuss issues such as debt relief to poorer nations, global economic and policy outlooks, and international tax arrangements.
India’s geopolitical importance to the US and its allies has increased as American policy makers seek to contain Beijing’s growing assertiveness, with an increased focus on the so-called Quad grouping that includes Japan and Australia. At the same time, New Delhi has continued to maintain close ties with Russia in a bid to secure cheaper energy and weapons.
“India’s reluctance to use the word war has got to do with its official stand, which is staying neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war,” said Swasti Rao, an associate fellow withy the Europe and Eurasia Centre at the New Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
“It has little to do with the role India is trying to play, which is calling for de-escalation and trying to mediate in many ways.”
Prior to the breakthrough in Bali, similar G-20 gatherings of finance ministers produced no final communiqué agreed by all members, with only a “Chair’s Summary” published at the end of the discussions.
