'Never Seen This Kind Of Welcome For Any PM...': Jaishankar At G20 Ministers Meet In Varanasi

At G20 meet in Varanasi, Jaishankar said that he has never seen a prime minister be welcomed the way PM Modi was welcomed by the prime ministers of Fiji and Australia.

Union Minister S Jaishankar at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith in Varanasi, where the G20 meeting is being held from today.

Source : PTI

The three-day meeting of development ministers of the G20 member nations in Varanasi began on Sunday at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith and is being chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The focus will be on disruptions in global supply chains, food and energy security challenges and impacts of climate change among other issues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a special video address at the meeting. There are around 200 delegates who are expected to attend this meeting, according to the news agency PTI.

In an address, Jaishankar said that he has never seen a prime minister be welcomed the way PM Modi was welcomed by the prime ministers of Fiji and Australia at least in the 45 years of his career. 

VIDEO | “The type of welcome our PM received (in Fiji and Australia) was something I had never seen before,” says Union Minister S Jaishankar at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith in Varanasi, where the G20 meeting is being held from today. pic.twitter.com/OjR4SCjBm0

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 11, 2023

“PM Modi was welcomed with a lot of respect, I have never seen anything like it before.”

The meeting will consist of two main sessions – one on 'Multilateralism: Collective Actions for Accelerating Progress towards SDGs' and another on 'Green Development: A LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) Approach'.

The meeting in Varanasi is taking place amid the mounting developmental challenges that have been aggravated by the economic slowdown, impacts of climate crisis, growing poverty and inequality, food and energy insecurity, global supply-chain disruptions, debt distress, and geo-political conflicts and tensions.

"The G20 development ministerial meeting will be an opportunity to collectively agree on actions for accelerating achievement of the SDGs and foster synergies between the development, environment and climate agendas while avoiding costly trade-offs that hold back progress for the developing countries," the MEA was quoted by PTI as saying.

The DWG, while building on the crucial work done by previous G20 presidencies, has carried forward its mandate of enhancing G20's contribution to accelerating progress towards SDGs and strengthening G20's long-term vision in this regard.

India is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of G20.

Jaishankar said that various cultural programmes, exhibitions, and excursions have been planned for the delegates to give them a glimpse of the rich culture and traditions of Varanasi, which is one of the oldest cities in the world.