India served as co-chair at the first summit on multilateralism held at the UN General Assembly.
Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar traveled to the United States on Sunday to attend the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
In this context, at the summit titled ‘Partners for Multilateralism, International Law, Peace and Prosperity (P4M),’ held there for the first time on Monday, he served as co-chair alongside representatives from Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, and Kenya, as well as European Council President António Costa.
At that time, Jaishankar said: It is a pleasure that India is co-chairing this conference. We have gathered here at a time when various complexities are prevailing in international geopolitics.
For decades, the world has been undergoing a restructuring. This is seen as a long-anticipated structural evolution.
However, intense competition, geopolitical issues, and conflicts have completely altered its course. If we ignore this and move on, international cooperation will become questionable in the days ahead. It is at this moment that the imperative to firmly uphold multilateralism has arisen.
4 major issues
It is essential to find solutions to the four issues of fuel, food, fertilizer, and finance. When the above four are threatened by dominance and disruptions, alternative routes must be identified. In such a situation, countries with similar positions should come together.
Only then can issues such as peace and international security, climate action, climate justice, emerging technologies and development finance, counterterrorism, strengthening supply chains and ensuring disaster resilience, and pandemics be addressed together, he said.
Bilateral consultation
Jaishankar met the foreign ministers from various countries who had come to attend the UN General Assembly session on Monday.
In a post on the X platform, he said, “Pleased to meet French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. I discussed the Ukraine war and the Gulf conflict with him. We also deliberated on various regional and global issues, including reform of the UN Security Council.
Following my recent visit to Ukraine, I am pleased to meet the country’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha again in New York.
I discussed strengthening bilateral relations in the fields of politics, economics, and education, and consulted on the Ukraine issue with Moldova’s Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi.
He also noted that he spoke with Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis about the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement.
Meeting with V4 countries is a historic milestone
Jaishankar also met and held discussions for the first time with the foreign ministers of the four countries—Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic (the Visegrád Group).
Speaking about this, he said, ‘Meeting the ministers of the V4 countries was a historic milestone event. India’s friendship with the European Union is expanding further. Cooperation between the V4 countries and India in sectors including technology, innovation, security, space, and telecommunications will be strengthened in the coming days.
It has been planned to hold annual meetings between the V4 countries and the Indian External Affairs Minister, as well as business meetings,’ he said.