New Delhi/Varanasi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday held meetings with Development Ministers from Germany and Australia besides meeting with a senior EU official and the UNCTAD Secretary General on the sidelines of the three-day G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting being held in Varanasi.

He met with Australian Development Minister Pat Conroy, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen and Secretary General of UNCTAD Rebeca Grynspan in Varanasi.

Around 200 delegates are expected to attend the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting being held from June 11-13.

In tweets, the EAM posted: “A great meeting with EU Commissioner for International Partnerships @JuttaUrpilainen."

“Discussed the G20 meeting. Also took forward our conversation about synergizing Global Gateway with India’s development partnership initiatives," he said.

On his meeting with the UNCTAD top official, he posted: “A good meeting with Secretary General of @UNCTAD, @RGrynspan on #G20DMM sidelines."

“Agreed that G20 plays an important role in alleviating concerns of Global South. Will also work closely to ensure the advancement of SDG goals," he said.

“Glad to welcome Australian Development Minister @PatConroy1 in Varanasi for the #G20DMM," he said.

“Naturally, we spoke about PM @narendramodi’s recent visit to Australia. Also discussed how our two countries can cooperate on development issues in the Pacific," he said.

On his meeting with the German minister, he posted: “Pleasure to begin G20 Development Ministers’ meeting with German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development @SvenjaSchulze68."

“Discussed our shared priorities that #G20DMM seeks to take forward. Also spoke about the Sustainable Development Summit and third country partnerships," the Minister said.

EAM is chairing the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a special video address at the beginning of the meeting.

The Varanasi Development Ministers’ Meeting takes place amidst mounting developmental challenges that have been further aggravated by economic slowdown, debt distress, impacts of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, growing poverty and inequality, food and energy insecurity, cost-of-living crisis, global supply-chain disruptions, and geo-political conflicts and tensions, a statement said.

The G20 Development Ministerial meeting will be an opportunity to collectively agree on actions for accelerating achievement of the SDGs and foster synergies between the development, environment and climate agendas while avoiding costly trade-offs that hold back progress for the developing countries.

The meeting follows the Voice of the Global South Summit that was hosted by India in January 2023, and the decisions taken at the Varanasi meeting will also contribute to the United Nations SDG Summit which will take place in September in New York.

The meeting will consist of two main sessions, one on "Multilateralism: Collective Actions for Accelerating Progress towards SDGs” and another on "Green Development: A LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) Approach”.

The Development Ministers’ Meeting was preceded by the fourth and final Development Working Group (DWG) Meeting, which was held in Delhi from June 6-9.

The DWG, while building on the crucial work done by previous G20 presidencies, has carried forward its mandate of enhancing G20's contribution to accelerating progress towards SDGs and strengthening G20 long-term vision in this regard including by strengthening G20 efforts towards fostering sustainable, inclusive and resilient economic growth.

Cultural programmes, exhibitions and excursions have also been organized to provide the delegates a glimpse into the rich culture and traditions of Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world.

(With UNI inputs)