With a focus on cementing strategic partnerships, institutionalizing new mechanisms and strengthening old mechanisms of plurilateral cooperation, sending a message of solidarity to the global south and pushing the reform agenda of the United Nations (UN), the minister of foreign affairs of India S Jaishankar began his 11-day visit to the United States (US) with a series of meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Monday.
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During the week in New York, the minister will participate in over 50 meetings in all formats. He will address the UN for the first time as foreign minister, attend a special event focusing on India’s partnership with the UN and deliver public remarks at Columbia University, among other engagements. the other.
Latin American focus
Jaishankar began his day with a meeting with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a grouping of 33 countries in the region. He met with the ministers of Argentina, which holds the pro-interim presidency of the group, Guatemala, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.
A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two sides discussed issues such as economic recovery after the pandemic and agreed to work closely on “trade and commerce, agriculture, food and energy security, health, vaccine production , traditional medicine and logistics.”
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The statement added, “They also discussed regional and multilateral issues of common interest. Both sides acknowledged their cooperation in the UN and other multilateral bodies and agreed to work together on global issues such as UN reforms and climate change.
India was one of the first countries to start a dialogue mechanism with the regional body a decade ago, but the forum was revived after a gap of five years. As China’s influence in the region grows, New Delhi is making an effort to increase its footprint in the region, leveraging traditional strengths such as the Caribbean diaspora and newer initiatives such as vaccine provision and engagement and investment in economic growth. This year alone, from the Indian side, former President of India (Ram Nath Kovind), EAM Jaishankar and Minister of State Meenakshi Lekhi have visited eight countries in the region.
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After the meeting, Jaishankar tweeted: “Started #UNGA meetings in New York with India-CELAC Quartet. Both sides appreciated how much our economic and political cooperation has grown in recent years”. He added that both sides had exchanged views on global challenges and “saw great value in the intensification of cooperation”.
A person familiar with the relationship said Latin America’s geographic location, abundance of natural resources and critical minerals, agricultural potential and shared concerns over food, energy security and climate gave importance to India’s ties with the region.
UNSC: Current and future partners
Then the minister met with Olta Zhacka, the foreign minister of Albania. Albania is currently a member of the UN Security Council, has been an important voice in the Ukraine debates and has supported India’s counter-terrorism efforts in relevant UN bodies, including the issue of listing Pakistani terrorists blocked by China. After the meeting, Jaishankar tweeted that both sides appreciated their cooperation in SC and discussed strengthening bilateral relations. “Exchange views on Ukraine and energy.”
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Jaishankar then met Malta’s foreign minister, Ian Borg. Malta will become a non-permanent member of the UNSC from January 2023 and the meeting was an opportunity to share India’s view of the UN process with Malta and understand its priorities. The minister said after the meeting that India had “warmly congratulated” Malta on its election to the SC and both sides agreed to deepen cooperation in the UN and the Commonwealth and explored strengthening bilateral economic ties.
After the meeting, Borg told HT, “We have a very good bilateral relationship with India. We hosted Minister Lekhi in Malta recently. At this meeting, we reiterated our excellent relationship and how we can work together, both in the Commonwealth and sharing our experiences at the SC. You have significant investments in Malta and we would like to increase investments in the Indian market.” Borg said he expected additional consultations with India in the coming weeks on technical issues.
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The first trilateral India-France-UAE
Later on Monday, Jaishankar was scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Cuba, Indonesia, Ethiopia and the president of the 77th UN General Assembly, Csaba Korosi.
Jaishankar will also participate in the first India-France-UAE trilateral. The grouping is a sign of strong bilateral ties between India and France, and India and the United Arab Emirates, and represents a different institutional architecture in the Indo-Pacific.
Following a meeting of focal points of the three countries in July, the MEA had said the three sides “exchanged perspectives on the Indo-Pacific region and explored potential areas of trilateral cooperation, including Maritime Security, Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) )., Blue Economy, Regional Connectivity, Cooperation in Multilateral Forums, Energy and Food Security, Innovation and Startups, Supply Chain Resilience and Cultural and People-to-People Cooperation”.
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