'We are meeting at a time of deep global divisions': PM Narendra Modi at G20 Foreign Ministers' meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday welcomed foreign ministers to India for the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

"I welcome you to India for G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. It signals the need for unity, a purpose and unity of action. I hope that your meeting today will reflect the spirit of coming together for achieving common & concrete objectives," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

"We are meeting at a time of deep global divisions. We must all acknowledge that multilateralism is in crisis today. The architecture of the global governance created after the Second world war was to prevent future wars by balancing competing interests & second to foster international cooperation on issues of common interest," the PM added.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday welcomed Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang, Foreign Minister of Argentina Santiago Cafiero, Mauritius Foreign Minister Alan Ganoo, South African Foreign Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor, and Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.

It is important to note that this is the first meeting between Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Qin.

Overall 40 delegations -- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India as host, Indonesia both as immediate past president and ASEAN chair, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, US (all G20 member countries) -- are likely to participate in the meeting.

Second ministerial meeting being held under India's Presidency

This will be the second ministerial meeting being held under India's Presidency. Bangalore hosted the first ministerial gathering of central bank governors and finance ministers.

Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said it is one of the largest gatherings of Foreign Ministers hosted by any G20 presidency.

During the Foreign Ministers' meeting on Thursday, the EAM will chair two foreign ministries meeting sessions.

"The first session will focus on multilateralism, and issues related to food and energy. The second session will focus on four or five key issues including new and emerging threats including counter-terrorism and narcotics, global skill mapping, and focus on global talent pools," said the foreign secretary.