Nicosia:External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday underlined that during its G20 presidency, India intends to take up the issue of affordability and accessibility to energy, foodgrains and fertilisers "very strongly" as the economies of the Global South have been impacted. India formally assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1.
The next G20 Leaders' Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 next year in New Delhi. Addressing a business event here, Jaishankar, who is on his first official visit to Cyprus as India and Cyprus celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations, noted that the efficiency and the delivery of global supply chains is a common concern today for all countries in the world.
Today the affordability and accessibility to energy, foodgrains and fertilisers is "not just our concern...it's a larger concern in the Global South. And it's certainly a worry that we intend to take up very strongly during the presidency of the G20 which we have taken on the first of December," he said.
The conflict in Ukraine has halted farming and the export of agriculture that much of the world is reliant on. The consequence of the shortage has seen surges in inflation with staples such as vegetable oil and sugar up by more than 50 percent. The war has also generated a sharp increase in energy prices and significant volatility in energy markets.
Jaishankar said India is also working on using the G20 presidency to tackle the climate change issue. Noting that the climate action issue is a common concern across the globe, the last few years, he said, "have actually brought home to each one of us that this is not a hypothetical threat. This is not something which we said would happen one day in the future...I think for fragile topographies, it (the climate change issue) is of growing concern".
Jaishankar said as a country which is home to 17 per cent of the world's population, India today contributes about 5 per cent of the world's emissions but "our commitment to tackling climate change is 100 per cent". "We have led not just by expanding massively our renewables at home, one of the big initiatives we are currently working on is to use the G20 presidency to advance that is actually to advocate the change in lifestyle," he said.
Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi also feels very strongly that changing lifestyles would actually make a big difference to the environment. The minister said India has also been a leader in two international initiatives -- the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient infrastructure.