Focus on ‘inclusive agenda’: PM Modi’s address at G20 finance ministers’ meeting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Feb 24 urged G20 finance ministers to focus on an “inclusive agenda” and the most vulnerable citizens of the world as the first ministerial meeting of the world’s largest economies got underway in Bengaluru under the shadow of the Ukraine conflict. The Indian side has sought to keep the focus of its G20 presidency on the economic and geopolitical fallout of the war, especially on the Global South, while working to bridge differences within the grouping on the Ukraine crisis. The prime minister, in his remarks in English to the FMCBG meeting, made no direct reference to the Ukraine crisis but acknowledged the challenges confronting the finance ministers and “serious economic difficulties” facing the world.