EAM Jaishankar meets Singapore FM Vivian Balakrishnan

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday met with Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting organized by Indonesia.

“Glad to catch up with FM @VivianBala of Singapore on the sidelines of #G20FMM in Bali,” the external affairs minister said in a tweet. Earlier on Friday, Jaishankar also met his Dutch and Korean counterparts – Wopke Hoekstra and Park Jin respectively.

EAM Jaishankar discussed the situation in Europe and the Indo-Pacific with Hoekstra, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Jaishankar also met the South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Park and exchanged views on Indo-Pacific issues.

He also met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed various global and regional issues.

Jaishankar also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed bilateral matters along with exchanging views on contemporary regional and international issues including the Ukraine conflict.

This year, the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting is being organised by Indonesia.

The agenda for the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting is to be dominated by the war in Ukraine.

Since the war began in Ukraine, India has been calling for diplomacy and dialogue to address the ongoing conflict.

The G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom.

During the summit, from July 7 to 8, the participating foreign ministers will hold talks on issues of contemporary relevance, such as strengthening multilateralism and current global challenges including food and energy security, read a release by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The External Affairs Minister’s participation in the G20 FMM will strengthen India’s engagement with G20 member states. As a G20 troika member and as the incoming G20 President, India’s role in the upcoming FMM discussions assumes even greater importance, the official statement read.