G20 Foreign Ministers' meet in Delhi: Sergey Lavrov apologises to India over 'indecent behavior' by Western diplomats

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has apologised to India over the "indecent behavior" of a number of Western delegations.

"I would like to apologize to the Indian presidency and colleagues from the countries of the global South for the indecent behavior of a number of Western delegations, who turned the work on the G20 agenda into a farce."

Foreign ministers from the world's top industrialised and developing countries had crucial discussions on key global concerns against the backdrop of the growing rift between the US-led West and the Russia-China alliance over the Ukraine war.

The meeting was led by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, China's Qin Gang, the UK's James Cleverly, and the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles.

The Indian side has been working hard to get an unified communique, as its absence may indicate a lack of progress during the meeting.

Jaishankar met with Lavrov on March 1

On the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers' conference on Wednesday, Jaishankar held a number of bilateral meetings, including one with Lavrov, with whom he exchanged views on bilateral cooperation between India and Russia and G-20 issues

Russian Foreign Ministry Lavrov earlier said that he will firmly defend Moscow's fundamental interests and strongly promote recognition of the new global realities that assert a multipolar system of state relations.