Kishida looks to convince India to get tough on Russia

BLOOMBERG

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prodded his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to speak against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at their meeting on Monday, adding pressure on New Delhi to choose between major world democracies and a key supplier of energy and weapons.
“I want to stop Russia’s invasion as fast as possible, Kishida told reporters after the meeting. “To achieve that, the international community, including the Global South must speak out,” he added, using a term for developing countries.
India holds the presidency of the Group of 20 nations, whose members Russia and China have opposed efforts by the wider group to condemn the invasion. The Group of Seven advanced economies, chaired by Japan this year, have renewed their support for Ukraine. Kishida is seeking to bridge the gap.
“We affirmed that we have responsibility for maintaining and strengthening the international order based on the rule of law,” Kishida said of his discussions with Modi. “We agreed it is also important for G-7 and G-20 to make this clear.”
Modi had earlier laid out to his Japanese counterpart that the G-7 needs to reflect the concerns of the developing economies that make up the Global South, India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters.