EAM S Jaishankar flags a '4F' crisis: Fuel, food, fertiliser, finance

At the inaugural P4M Summit, Jaishankar called for stronger multilateralism to address the fuel, food, fertiliser and finance crisis and other global challenges

For multilateralism to forge ahead, its advocacy and practice must be strengthened, including to deal with the “4F crisis of fuel, food, fertiliser, and finance”, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

 

On Monday, Jaishankar was at the inaugural ‘Partners for Multilateralism, International Law, Peace and Prosperity (P4M) Summit’ on the sidelines of the United Nations High Level Week in New York.

 

India has been pushing for reformed multilateralism, especially amid the challenges it has faced to its fuel and fertiliser supplies because of the West Asia conflict and the unilateral tariffs and sanctions imposed on New Delhi, including its efforts to ensure energy security for its 1.4 billion people. 

 

 

Leaders from Canada, Brazil, Kenya and the European Union have come together to back the P4M Summit and called for a renewal of international cooperation amid rising geopolitical fragmentation.

 

At a separate meeting, Jaishankar met four of his Central European counterparts, where they committed to boost cooperation and deepen defence ties. He met foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The four countries comprise the regional grouping known as the Visegrad Group, or V4. It was their first joint ministerial meeting with India on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Slovakia in June, where discussions were held to support cooperation between India and regional groupings such as V4. The four countries also backed India’s bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council. 

 

The V4 meeting also discussed possibilities for greater interaction among businesses, academic and research institutions, and other stakeholders from India and the V4 member states. The need for reformed multilateralism and addressing contemporary global challenges, including those affecting the Global South, was also discussed. 

 

In his address at the P4M Summit, Jaishankar said that “the 4F crisis of fuel, food, fertiliser and finance cannot be left to itself”. He said there is a very powerful case for frameworks and guardrails to be put in place where new capabilities and concerns arise, and de-risking and diversifying must be encouraged where there is a threat of chokepoint dominance and disruption. 

 

“And where there is a compelling cause or a powerful case, the like-minded must have the confidence to come together,” he said, adding that multilateralism will be best served when international law, rules and norms are scrupulously observed.

 

Jaishankar highlighted that reformed multilateralism is essential and more participative deliberations and transparent decision-making are overdue. 

 

He said the global order is under stress. While a rebalancing is taking place, extreme competition, geopolitical tensions and actual conflicts have given this an entirely different character. If left unchecked, it would call into question the very spirit of international cooperation, Jaishankar said, and called for greater assertion of multilateralism.

 

The External Affairs Minister emphasised that at stake is the future of peace and international security, of climate action and climate justice, of emerging technologies and development finance, of countering terrorism and strengthening supply chain, and of ensuring disaster resilience and preparing for pandemics. He said all of this hinges on a will to cooperate. 

 

He pointed out that the need is to have a range of efforts, and a combination of initiatives. “Where ongoing conflicts are concerned, specific dimensions could be addressed even while we strive for a broader peace.”

 

In a joint appeal ahead of the P4M Summit, published in a Financial Times column, Canadian PM Mark Carney, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, European Council President Antonio Costa, and Kenyan President William Ruto noted that international trade reached a record $35 trillion last year. 

 

At the same time, they said geopolitical instability has intensified. They said there were 65 state-based armed conflicts across 35 countries in 2025, the highest since 1946, and global military spending reached a record $2.9 trillion. 

 

The leaders said that challenges, such as climate change, financial shocks, artificial intelligence, and disruptions to maritime trade, cannot be managed by individual countries alone. “Cooperation is therefore not an act of idealism, it is a practical necessity,” they wrote.