Blinken's India visit 'more about global order', says expert; fears divide will overshadow G20 agenda

Prof Harsh Pant, Vice President for Studies and Foreign Policy at ORF told ETV Bharat's Chandrakala Choudhury that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's India visit will be more about global order than Indo-US bilateral ties.

New Delhi:Ahead of the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken's arrival in New Delhi on Wednesday to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting, a foreign policy expert Tuesday said that given the major power contestation around Ukraine, the visit will be more about global order than Indo-US bilateral ties.

Blinken will arrive in New Delhi on March 1 to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting which will focus on strengthening multilateralism and deepening cooperation on food and energy security, sustainable development, counter-narcotics, global health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and gender equality and women’s empowerment.

He will meet with Indian government officials and civil society to reaffirm India-US's strong partnership. "India, US relations are moving forward productively. They have seen a great strengthening over the last few years and the bilateral relationship is embedded in a wider Indo-Pacific framework, where India is engaging with the US not only bilaterally but also in a mini lateral format which is the Quad," Prof Harsh Pant, Vice President for Studies and Foreign Policy at Observer Research Foundation (ORF) told ETV Bharat.

He pointed out that Blinken's visit this time is for the G20 FMM meeting. "Given the major power contestation around Ukraine, the visit will be more about global order than Indo-US bilateral ties. Certainly, he will underscore the Biden administration's commitment to strengthening the India-US relationship," said Pant.

Blinken's visit comes at a very crucial time as the Russia-Ukraine war completes one year. It is pertinent to note that Russia-Ukraine has remained high on the agenda of any bilateral meets and engagements so far. The whole world is staring at the possibility of ending this conflict as soon as possible. And India's G20 presidency will perhaps pave the path towards some solution to such global issues.

Recently, the tussle between Russia-China, and the West over the Ukraine conflict was seen at the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in Bengaluru that ended with no communique due to the divide and differences over the conflict in Europe.

Further, when asked whether the division between Russia-China and the West over the Ukraine Conflict will cast a shadow on India's G20 foreign ministers meeting and Raisina Dialogue, Prof Pant said, "there is indeed a danger that the divide will overshadow the G20 agenda, which was already seen in Bengaluru. The contestation and divergences over Ukraine are sharpening and it may overshadow the G20 agenda".

"There is a reason why India is therefore striving to frame the G20 agenda around the developing countries because while major powers are contesting, the brunt of the polarization is being borne by the developing world, where there is fuel and economic crisis which no one is talking about," said Pant, adding India is trying for this so that the polarized agenda does not overshadow the constructive agenda but certainly there is a danger that major power polarization will be the most important driver of this year's G20.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed the visit of Chinese FM Qin Gang to India for the G20 FMM meeting. Russian FM Sergey Lavrov will also be in New Delhi for the meeting. The meeting will see all the major powers including the US, Russia, China, and other Western nations coming under one roof. The meeting is also expected to provide an opportunity for Blinken and Lavrov to hold bilateral meetings and discuss the Ukraine conflict.

EAM S Jaishankar will host his counterparts from G20 nations on March 1 and 2. This is going to be the first meeting of the G20 foreign ministers after India took over the presidency of the grouping from Indonesia.