After four days of deadlock, India played a key role in helping forge a consensus on the draft G20 communique which reflects PM Modi’s call to Russia on cessation of hostilities.
Speaking to reporters, foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said that India played a key role in successful negotiations of the outcome document.
“PM’s ‘era not of war’ message resonated deeply across all delegations and helped bridge gap across different parties,” he said.
In the fourth point of the G20 communique, the declaration said that it is essential to uphold international law and the multilateral system that safeguard peace and stability.
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“This includes defending all the Purposes and Principles enshrined in the Charter of the UN and adhering to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilian and infrastructure in armed conflicts. The use of threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital. Today’s era must not be of war.”
While interlocutors were squabbling over the language of the draft communique, the Indian delegation worked behind the scenes to get several emerging market economies, including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, to ensure that the group of the world’s largest economies did not turn into a political battlefield with the G7 members putting the exclusive focus of the declaration on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sources told TOI that the Indian delegation led by Sherpa Amitabh Kant sought to ensure that the communique reflect the language of the UN resolution on Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Sources said that Modi’s message to Russian president Vladimir Putin at the SCO summit in Smarkand earlier this year was the key input of the draft communique.
“Yeh yug yudh ka nahin hai (this is not the era of war),” Modi had said during his bilateral meeting, while underlying the significance of democracy, dialogue and diplomacy. The statement had found resonance across the globe with key world leaders lauding the PM’s message to Putin.
Until then, India was criticised for remaining silent and was under attack for buying Russian oil, even as the West had shunned it.
The G20 leaders are, however, noted that Russia’s invasion “is wreaking havoc for people everywhere” due to its impact on food, fuel and fertiliser prices.
India’s role is seen to be important also in the context of its presidency of the grouping from December 1.
Indonesia on Wednesday handed over the G20 presidency to India for the coming year as the Bali summit of the grouping ended here with the member states finalising the joint declaration.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo handed over the G20 presidency to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said taking over the presidency of the grouping is a matter of pride for every citizen in India.
Meanwhile, Russia saw the document as balanced — that it doesn’t condemn Moscow but rather the war itself, a person close to the Russian delegation said before the final communique was released.
The draft addressed the Kremlin’s concerns about sanctions imposed by Ukraine’s allies and showed how facilitating exports of grain and fertilizers from Russia is also a core part of the grain deal reached on Ukraine in July, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters.
(With inputs from agencies)
