India’s bid to rebrand Ukraine war as a ‘challenge’ or ‘crisis’ fails at G20 meet
- Indian delegates repeatedly tried to get finance ministers of the Group of 20 to call the war a ‘challenge’ or ‘crisis’, according to multiple reports
- New Delhi has refused to assign blame for the violence in Ukraine as the conflict enters its second year and has solidified ties with Russia
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Published: 12:32pm, 28 Feb, 2023
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India appears to have failed in its mission to stop G20 countries from calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “war”.
While hosting financial ministers of the Group of 20 in Bangalore last week, Indian delegates tried to get members to call the Ukraine war a “challenge” or a “crisis” instead, multiple reports said.
Russia, which is a member of the G20 and sent a delegation to the meetings, has previously discouraged the use of the word “war” to refer to its military action in Ukraine. To sway public opinion, the country has been calling the war in Ukraine a “special military operation”.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin to New Delhi in 2021. Modi called their countries’ friendship “unbreakable” during a meeting last year. Photo: AP
However, a press release published jointly by the G20 countries on Saturday describes the attack on Ukraine as “a war”.