The third meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar ended on Tuesday without a consensus on the “language” of a communique regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.  

However, it did manage to make good developments in addressing debt vulnerabilities and strengthening Multilateral Development Bank (MDB).  

Following the two days of talks, which started on Monday, there was no final communique on the Ukraine issue. India, as the host nation, was forced to issue the G20 Chair’s summary and an outcome document.  

“We still don’t have a common language on the Russia-Ukraine war. So, it must be left to the leaders during the (G20 Leaders’) Summit in September to take a call on that. We did not think it was right for us to change it,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters after the two-day meeting ended in Gandhinagar.   

According to the chair summary issued by India, China and Russia objected to paragraphs referring to the war which said it was causing “immense human suffering” and “exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy”.   

The countries agreed to enhance macro policy cooperation and support the progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The members reaffirmed that achieving sustainable development will require policymakers to stay agile and flexible in their policy response, as evidenced during the recent banking turbulence in a few advanced economies where expeditious action by relevant authorities helped to maintain financial stability and manage spillovers.