Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Monday intervened at various sessions of the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting and emphasized upholding the true spirit of multilateralism for greater interest of the Global Community.

He stressed on the challenges faced by the Countries of Global South and called for support from developed countries on means of implementation, financing and capacity building, according to a message from Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar chaired the meeting. Foreign Ministers/Ministers from a number of the G20 countries as well as guest countries attended this important meeting, which primarily focused on multilateralism, progress of implementation of SDGs and Green Development.

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Momen highlighted the various steps and achievements made by Bangladesh under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in implementation of SDGs, Green Development and adopting various initiatives to facilitate the ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ Mission .

He also met his Indian counterpart Jaishankar on the sidelines of the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh and discussed issues of mutual interest.

Both foreign ministers expressed satisfaction over the existing excellent bilateral relations between the two countries.

They discussed issues of bilateral interests and the various important events which are expected to take place in the coming days.

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Momen appreciated India for successfully steering the G20 meetings and their leadership role in addressing the global challenges under India’s G20 presidency.

Both FMs expressed satisfaction over various achievements which have been taken in the recent time.

Momen also met  Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore and Isobel Coleman, Deputy Administrator of USAID.

During his meeting with the Singaporean Minister, Momen called for expanding the areas of cooperation with Singapore and employing more people from Bangladesh.

During his meeting with Deputy Administration of USAID, Momen underlined the robust partnership between Bangladesh and the USAID that has spanned more than five decades.

During both the meetings, he sought support for early and sustainable repatriation of all the displaced Rohingyas to their homeland in the Rakhine State of Myanmar.

The Varanasi Development Ministers’ Meeting takes place amid 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.

The G20 Development Ministerial meeting is seen as 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, according to MEA.

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.