In the absence of Pedro Sánchez, who has stayed at home with Covid, it has been Nadia Calviño who has paraded on Saturday through the colorful carpet of New Delhi to receive a welcome and a smile from the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been interested for the health of the Spanish president. Later, the acting First Vice President of the Government, as Spain’s representative at the G20 summit, has participated in the first meetings focused on climate change.

“We have talked about strengthening international cooperation to fight climate change, with a unanimous call for compliance with the climate and financial objectives of the Paris Agreement. The meeting has also been very focused on representing and enhancing the voice of the Global South, of developing countries, the most vulnerable”, explained the vice-president.

“I see a unanimous commitment to multilateralism from all leaders to address global challenges, that is the message we have heard today. The G20 is proving to be the most important forum for effective coordination at the global level and face up to shared challenges,” he continued.

It was during one of the breaks in the meetings of world leaders when Calviño stopped by the media center, located in one of the pavilions of the Bharat Mandapam, a mega convention complex that was renovated in July and has a main building shaped like a conch.

In front of the Spanish media in New Delhi, the vice president, in addition to addressing some notes on the summit meetings, also responded to Yolanda Díaz, who this week asked Calviño to stop STC Group from entering Telefónica, the main telecommunications operator in Saudi Arabia, after this state company announced the acquisition of 9.9% of the Spanish company, thus becoming its majority shareholder.

“Spain is a serious country and since we came to power we have reinforced all the mechanisms to defend the interests of our country. That is what we are going to do, analyze the operation with the utmost rigor and activate the appropriate mechanisms to protect our general interest and strategic considering that Telefónica is a strategic company”, said Calviño.

The vice president said that she “had not had the opportunity” to speak with the Saudi crown prince, Mohamed bin Salmán, also present at the Delhi summit. “We are going to protect the general and strategic interest of Spain,” she remarked. Calviño added that she was in “constant contact” with José María Álvarez Pallete, the president of Telefónica, who has been in Saudi Arabia to meet with the STC leadership. “He has me promptly informed of everything,” she said.

Before returning to the G20 meetings, Calviño also spoke about his candidacy for the Presidency of the European Investment Bank (EIB), whose voting will take place on September 15 and 16 in Santiago de Compostela. “We are working on it and Spain has presented a strong candidacy,” he said. If she is elected, she would become the first woman to chair the EIB.