The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Even as the United States scaled down its presence at the G-20 ministerial meeting in South Africa, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines that it was important to recognise that the two countries had “worked hard to preserve and protect” the multilateral group.
The two ministers met in Johannesburg at the G-20 summit on Friday (February 21), where foreign ministers of member states convened for two days, amidst heightened geopolitical anxieties under the second Trump presidency.
Although this was the first G-20 meeting since the Trump administration began its second term, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio refused to attend, citing opposition to South Africa’s land policy and the presidency’s theme of “solidarity, equality, and sustainability,” which he claimed promoted “anti-Americanism”.
While the US was represented by the local diplomatic representative, Rubio’s absence was widely viewed as an early indication of the administration’s intent to adopt a more unilateral approach in its foreign policy.
In his opening remarks at the bilateral meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, Jaishankar briefly touched on bilateral relations but largely focused on the value of multilateralism – and especially the G-20.
“I am glad that we could meet today on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg. Such gatherings have provided an opportunity for our interaction even when our ties were going through a difficult phase,” he said.
Jaishankar then emphasised that both countries had played a key role in upholding the G-20. “We should also recognise that in a polarised global situation, our two countries have worked hard to preserve and protect the G20 as an institution. This in itself testifies to the importance of international cooperation,” he said.
Earlier at a session on the global geopolitical situation, Jaishankar described the G-20 as an “important expression of the world’s growing multi-polarity”.
“It captures the diversity of our interests, cultures and outlook. For this very reason, its ability to harmonise viewpoints is key to advancing the global agenda. However, the polarisation of recent years has created visible stress and distorted priorities. What we could do was, to somehow, find enough common ground to safeguard this institution. Today, the imperative is to go beyond that,” he said.
At another session, Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s support for South Africa’s priorities as president of G-20. “We are supportive of the priorities of the South African Presidency. They jell with what India has advocated both nationally as well as during its own G20 Presidency,” he said.
The last meeting of the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers took place at the G-20 summit in November 2024, a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met after a gap of five years. It marked the roll-out of normalisation of ties which had been frozen due to the military stand-off in eastern Ladakh which began in April-May 2020.
Last month, India and China agreed to restart direct flights, data sharing on trans-boundary rivers and the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage that had been disrupted due to the tensions.
Acknowledging the developments, he also noted that the special representatives had met in December in Beijing.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that two ministers, in their meeting lasting half an hour, “reviewed developments in our bilateral relationship since their last meeting in November, specifically the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas. Kalash Mansarovar yatra resumption, trans-boundary rivers, flight connectivity and travel facilitation were discussed”.
“There was also an exchange of views on G20 and SCO,” he added at the weekly media briefing on Friday.
Beijing’s readout of Wang and Jaishankar cited the former as acknowledging the resumption of exchanges “at all levels” between India and China following the Modi-Xi meet. This included the special representatives “[reaching] a consensus on the proper handling of specific differences”.
“The two sides should follow the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and ensure that bilateral relations are always on the right track,” the readout said, adding that China was ready to work with India to plan a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of bilateral relations.