SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good afternoon, everyone. It’s a pleasure to see my friend, Foreign Minister Jaishankar. I think we were last together just about a week ago (inaudible) at the G7 meeting (inaudible) – very glad to be able to continue the conversation. We’re, of course, here together at the G20, which is a vital institution for trying to deal collectively with some of the most significant problems and challenges that the world faces, as well as opportunities that are before us that are really affecting the lives of our people. Whether it is on the challenging side – food insecurity, energy insecurity, climate change – but also whether it’s opportunities for growth, for jobs, for progress, people’s lives, the G20 is a vital institution. I’m looking forward (inaudible) hearing, as you’re going to be hosting and leading the G20 next year, some thoughts on that, even as we’re of course immersed in the G20 right now.
And, of course, unfortunately, tragically, many of the challenges that the world faces that are having an impact on the lives of people, particularly when it comes to food, to energy – these challenges have been dramatically exacerbated by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. There is a report by the UN Development Program that just came out that has found that 71 million more people are now in poverty as a result of the aggression, so I think what we’ve heard today already is a strong chorus from around the world – not just the United States, but around the world – about the need for this aggression to end so that we can actually focus on the challenges that are affecting people in their lives.
But in all of this, India is a great partner for the United States. We’re working together on virtually every single one of these issues, and I look forward to pursuing the conversation that we’ve been engaged in for the last 18 months. So Jai, over to you.
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER JAISHANKAR: Thank you, Tony, and (inaudible). We had a very good conversation on the sidelines of the G7 summit (inaudible) taking it further today. And I think the G20 is a natural location, really, to look at the major challenges facing the world, and I think foremost among those are really energy security concerns. I think developing countries find that their options are very constricted. (Inaudible) they’re really reeling under our process and debilitating challenges (inaudible), some of which we’ll be working on at the next session.
But I also look forward to the occasion today to discuss our bilateral relationship (inaudible) very well. Over the last year and a half we’ve seen some really remarkable developments in our ties (inaudible). Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks, everyone.