Washington, Nov 1 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India told the G20 that the “politicization of energy flows” was “very harmful” and that the Global South was bearing the brunt of energy shortages, calling on the grouping to recognise the problem.

Speaking to a group of Indian reporters in Atlanta on Saturday after the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, EAM Jaishankar described it as “a very productive, very open, very animated G20”.

He said the meeting had three sessions, on the geopolitical situation, on energy and food security, and on supply chains.

On energy, he said: “Our point was that this distortion of the energy markets, the politicization of energy flows, this is something which is very harmful. The global South was bearing the brunt of the energy shortages, and that something needs to be done, and that this issue itself must be recognized by the G20.”

He said there was also “a lot of concern about food security, food security in terms of grain shipments themselves, but also because of the knock-on effects of fertilizer shortages.”

“The fertilizer issue was partly Black Sea, partly Gulf Red Sea. The grains was much more Black Sea issue,” EAM Jaishankar said, adding that “within the G20 there was a discussion” on what could be done.

On the geopolitical session, he said India’s message was that “there are big conflicts today. Two major conflicts, which are having global ramifications, and there are no military solutions. That we have to find a diplomatic pathway.”

He said the message on the conflicts was about “diplomacy, shanti, dialogue”.

On supply chains, EAM Jaishankar said India’s message was that “today we need more diversified supply chains” and “more diversified manufacturing, so that there isn’t that overconcentration, the world is not dependent on a single geography”.

He cited the pandemic, conflicts and climate events as risks, and said “we should avoid the temptation to weaponize, and the best way of dealing with that weaponization temptation is actually to diversify, to have multiple production centers.”

He said India had held bilaterals with “pretty much with everybody”, and that ministers had shown “a general appreciation” of India’s role.

“India was a country in a somewhat polarized world today. We have the ability to talk to all sides. We are contributing. We are bridging. We are communicating,” EAM Jaishankar said.

He said the meeting had been “productive from our point of view, able to get our viewpoint across.”

--IANS

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