Johannesburg, Feb 20 External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met several foreign ministers, including Sergei Lavrov (Russia), Wang Yi (China), Penny Wong (Australia), on the sidelines of the G2O Foreign Ministers Meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday.
He also held discussions with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timotheos, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Singapore FM Vivian Balakrishnan and many other dignitaries attending the event.
"Good to see colleagues from across the world," the EAM posted on X along with several photographs of him holding informal discussions with the foreign ministers.
"Catching up with counterpart Foreign Ministers at the G20 meeting," Jaishankar said in another post.
Earlier, the EAM met Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, discussing bilateral ties, global developments, work in the G20 and Brazil's BRICS Presidency.
Brazil assumed the presidency of BRICS, the prominent forum for political and economic cooperation among nations of the Global South, on January 1, 2025.
BRICS, an acronym representing Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has recently expanded its membership to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia.
India and Brazil share a very close and multifaceted relationship both at bilateral level as well as in multilateral fora such as BRICS, BASIC, G-20, G-4, IBSA, and International Solar Alliance.
EAM Jaishankar also met Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan on the sidelines of the G20 FMM.
"Always a good conversation with Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan of Singapore, this time in Johannesburg on the sidelines of G20 FMM. Discussed the state of the world and our work in furthering bilateral ties," he posted on X.
India-Singapore relations were elevated to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore in September 2024.
The External Affairs Minister reached Johannesburg earlier in the day to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) at the invitation of the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa Ronald Lamola.
"EAM’s participation in the G20 FMM will strengthen India's engagement with G20 countries and bolster the voice of the Global South in this important forum. EAM is expected to hold few bilateral meetings in the margins of the FMM," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday.
The meeting is the first Foreign Ministers' Meeting being held during South Africa's Presidency of the G20 under the theme 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability'.
South Africa's G20 Presidency began from December 1, 2024 and will continue till November 30, only five years before the deadline of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda.
While assuming the role, President Cyril Ramaphosa insisted that South Africa's G20 Presidency takes place when the world is facing a series of overlapping and mutually reinforcing crises, including climate change, underdevelopment, inequality, poverty, hunger, unemployment, technological changes and geopolitical instability.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor