Russia’s War In Ukraine: Why the World Should Care
Ukraine and G20 in India
ARABINDA RABHA
Deliberating on ‘Russia’s War In Ukraine: Why the World Should Care‘ at the Indian Council of World Affairs, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova did not chop words while talking out what Kyiv expected from India.
Ukraine on 11th April publicly sought a seat at the G20 table, adding to India’s headache as president of this year’s meetings after Russia and China made it clear they would collectively oppose any effort to force the Russia-Ukraine war on the grouping’s agenda.
Describing that India should be on the right side of history — that is stand with Ukraine — Emine Dzhaparova urged India to consider her country’s participation at upcoming events of the G20 including the summit in September.
Emine Dzhaparova added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be “happy” to address the gathering.
Without mentioning the Russia-China opposition to any effort to impose political issues on the agenda of multilateral fora like the G20, Dzhaparova said: “We believe that discussion about economy and the future economy/ economic situation in the world is not possible without a frank discussion about the repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Because it has an impact on the economic growth, it has an impact on the economy and the economies of G20 countries.”
At the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi in March, Russia and China had jointly opposed including the Ukraine-related paragraphs from the Bali declaration of the last session in a joint communique, arguing that the grouping is a forum for discussing finance and macro-economic policies.
In the absence of a consensus, a Chair’s summary and outcome document was issued in place of a joint communique.
Later that month, in the joint statement issued after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Moscow visit, Russia and China said they “firmly condemn the politicisation of multilateral platforms and the attempts of certain countries to insert irrelevant issues in the agenda of multilateral platforms and dilute the primary tasks of relevant mechanisms”.
In 2022, Indonesia — which hosted the Bali G20 — had to fight back pressure from some member countries to withdraw the invitation to Russia. Eventually, Zelensky got to address the summit via video link and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to Bali — thereby avoiding a direct confrontation with the G7 countries which are backing Ukraine.
As of now, the Kremlin has not ruled out Putin’s presence in Delhi for the G20 summit on September 9 and 10. In the case of Ukraine being invited to the G20 meetings, India has remained non-committal, pointing to the fact that it is not among the list of non-member countries that New Delhi has sent invitations to as rotating president of the forum.
Emine Dzhaparova also said, “If someone comes to rape you, what possible language can you find to talk to… I was really impressed when I got to know that there was an 11-year-old boy who was raped in front of his mother and he lost his ability to speak… There is no room for proper language. February 24 change everything for Ukraine.”
Emine Dzhaparova claimed that some intercepted conversations of Russian soldiers with their wives and mothers found that they were about stealing households.
Emine Dzhaparova slammed Russia for the invasion of Ukraine and claimed that some intercepted conversations of Russian soldiers with their wives and mothers found that they were about stealing households, even “toilet bowls”.
“When we receive intercepted conversations of Russian soldiers with their wives and mothers, they are about what to steal from Ukrainian households, they steal sometimes even toilet bowls,” Dzhaparova, said at a think tank in New Delhi on 11th April.
Dzhaparova is the first high-ranking Ukrainian official to visit India ever since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out on February 24 last year.
12-04-2023
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