G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting starts in New Delhi

The G20 foreign ministers' meeting commenced in New Delhi today with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's opening remarks.

A minute of silence was also observed before the proceedings began to pay tributes to the victims of Turkey and Syria earthquake victims.

"You are meeting at a time of deep global divisions," Modi said in a video message as the talks began. "We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can."

The New Delhi meeting is being attended by 40 delegations, including those headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. On Wednesday, Blinken said he had no plans to meet either minister. 

The G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting is being held in India on March 1-2. The Russian delegation is led by Sergey Lavrov. It is expected that on Thursday the delegates will discuss the issues of food and energy security, cooperation in the sphere of sustainable development, war on terrorism, new and emerging threats and humanitarian and other aid during natural disasters.