China, Russia have reservations on Bali Leaders' Declaration, that's why we came up with Chair Summary, not with communique: FM Sitharaman

Feb 25, 2023

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 25 : Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said China and Russia have reservations about the G20 Bali Leaders' Declaration and added "That is why we came up with Chair Summary, not with Communique."

In G20 Bali Leaders' Declaration, the members reiterated their national positions as expressed in other fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, which, in Resolution No. ES-11/1 dated 2 March 2022, as adopted by majority vote (141 votes for, 5 against, 35 abstentions, 12 absent) deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.
During the press conference held jointly by the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India on the G20 Presidency and the outcome of the G20 meeting, the finance minister said, "Indian Presidency got strong support for all our priorities. I am grateful to the US Secretary Janet Yellen who had really come forward, putting her support."
She also said, "I was glad to hear a lot of finance ministers praised the work of the Indian negotiating team. Each one of them came to me to say you have a fantastic team, which has gone through the negotiation process and the team leaders."
She also said: "I am grateful to the US Secretary Janet Yellen who had really come forward, putting her support."
For the support from US and UK, she said, "I'm grateful again for being very supportive of the global coordination framework, particularly on the crypto."
She said China and Saudi Arabia have been very proactive and came forward for coming forward on climate finance mobilisation.
The finance minister also said, "Japan and the United Kingdom supported all priorities of the Indian Presidency."
She added, "Saudi Arabia came to help with resolution on fuel in security."
On the discussions on cryptocurrency, finance minister Sitharaman said, "There was a seminar on policy perspectives debating the role to policies, consensus on cryptocurrencies. This seminar was also of great interest for most members who participated that was held on February 23."
FM Sitharaman said it was to deepen the discussion around crypto assets and to foster a better understanding of the broader implications of crypto assets. There was a panel discussion on leveraging national payment systems to enhance cross-border payment arrangements.
Sitharaman also said, "We also invited to give a global voice to the global South. Bangladesh, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Oman and Mauritius were the countries who we invited for their participation in G20 meeting."
"In the meeting, the Troika members -- Indonesia, Brazil and India -- had shared their success stories in digital public infrastructure," the finance minister said.