New Delhi (CNN)Foreign ministers from the world's biggest economies convened in New Delhi Thursday in what was seen as a grand test for Indian diplomacy, which ultimately didn't succeed in reaching a consensus because of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In the second high-level ministerial meeting under India's Group of 20 (G20) presidency this year, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, met his American, Chinese and Russian counterparts, hoping to find enough common ground to deliver a joint statement at the end of the summit.
But amid festering divisions over Moscow's war, New Delhi was unable to convince the leaders to put their differences aside, with Jaishankar admitting the conflict had struggled to unite the group.
India, the world's largest democracy with a population of more than 1.3 billion, has been keen to position itself as a leader of emerging and developing nations -- often referred to as the Global South -- at a time when soaring food and energy prices as a result of the war are hammering consumers already grappling with rising costs and inflation.