India To Take Up Accessibility To Energy, Food Grains ‘Very Strongly’ At G20: S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated today that India aims to address the issue of affordability and accessibility to energy, foodgrains, and fertilisers “quite vigorously” during its G20 presidency, as the economies of the Global South have been harmed.
On December 1, India formally took the G20 presidency. The next G20 Leaders’ Summit at the Heads of State/Government level is set for September 9 and 10 in New Delhi.

S Jaishankar, who is on his first official visit to Cyprus as India and Cyprus celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations, said at a business event that the efficiency and delivery of global supply chains is a shared challenge for all governments today.

Today the affordability and accessibility to energy, foodgrains and fertilisers is “not just our concern…it’s a larger concern in the Global South. And it’s certainly a worry that we intend to take up very strongly during the presidency of the G20 which we have taken on the first of December,” he said.

The conflict in Ukraine has interrupted farming and agricultural exports, on which much of the world is dependent. As a result of the scarcity, inflation has skyrocketed, with basics like vegetable oil and sugar rising by more than 50%. The battle has also resulted in a considerable spike in energy costs as well as severe instability in energy markets.

According to S Jaishankar, India is also focusing on using its G20 chairmanship to address the issue of climate change.

Noting that the climate action issue is a common concern across the globe, the last few years, he said, “have actually brought home to each one of us that this is not a hypothetical threat. This is not something which we said would happen one day in the future…I think for fragile topographies, it (the climate change issue) is of growing concern”.

S Jaishankar said as a country which is home to 17 per cent of the world’s population, India currently generates about 5 per cent of the world’s emissions but “our commitment to fighting climate change is 100 per cent”.

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