We oppose any step back from G20 Bali Declaration, trust India for strong communique: France

By Shailesh Yadav
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 24 : With words of condemnation for the war in Ukraine, French Finance Minister Brune Le Maire on Friday said that France strongly condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Bengaluru.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Reserve Bank of India Governor Shantikanta Das warmly welcomed the delegates for the 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting to the 'Garden City of India'.
G20 India's 1st Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting commenced today in the vibrant city of Bengaluru. The meeting spread over multiple sessions aiming at fostering global economic cooperation.
On the sidelines of G20, Brune Le Maire, French Minister of Economy, Finance and Digital and Industrial Sovereignty in a press conference strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Remembering the G20, 2022, that took place under the presidency of Indonesia, the French finance minister said, "We don't want to step back. I fully trust India, because India is in the driving seat. India is playing a key role and I think that India is in the best position to have this strong communique that we are all waiting for," he said in a press conference at the 1st Finance Ministers and Central bank Governors Meeting here in Bengaluru.
French Minister said this G20 was taking place one year after the declaration of war in Ukraine.
"In the G20 meeting, we affirmed its strong condemnation of the illegal and brutal attack of Russia against Ukraine. I want to make it very clear that we will oppose any step back from the statement of the leaders in Bali, Indonesia on this question of the war in Ukraine," he added.
"We fully trust India to communicate strongly and we are quite happy to see India as the driving seat today. Beyond human losses and destruction, what is at stake with this war in Ukraine is key principles of sovereignty and international order," he added.
French Minister said that one thing must be clear there can't be sustainable and strong economic development in a time of war. War in Ukraine is not a regional conflict, but a global conflict. It is not only affecting Ukraine and European countries but all countries around the world.
During this G20 meeting, European countries also showed unity and determination to adopt new sanctions against Russia.
The French Finance Minister said, "Our sanctions are strong and efficient. The oil revenues of Russia have reduced. We have frozen $58 billion of Russian assets. Sanctions are effective and will be more effective in the long term. We are also firm at the European level of financial support to Ukraine. We decided on the new IMF program of USD 15.5 billion."
Minister said that this G20 was also the equation to emphasize one good news, two concerns and one priority. The good news is that the economic situation looks better than expected and inflation should go down by mid-2023 in developed countries. France is a good example of that situation, with positive goals for 2023 and the lowest level of unemployment for 40 years.
Developing countries have been deeply suffering from COVID, inflation, the consequences of the war in Ukraine and climate change. There is a need to act quicker, stronger and better for developing countries. France already provided $4 billion of SDR to the IMF for loans.

The second concern is the level of debt. To address this concern, it is time to improve and implement a common framework. But any last word on one key priority performance has been a key priority for more than five years now. international taxation the implementation of pillar 2 minimum taxation and the completion of the negotiation of pillar 1 digital taxation should be decided without any delay, the French minister said.