G20: Delhi declaration adopted, consensus after hardball negotiations on Ukraine conflict

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, September 9

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday the G20 had achieved consensus on leaders’ joint declaration. “There is good news, with everyone’s cooperation, consensus has been reached on the New Delhi G20 Leadership Declaration,” PM Modi announced on the opening day of the G20 Summit to applause from other leaders and delegates.

In a win for Russia, which was later played down by France, its name was not mentioned in the para on the Ukraine conflict. That was not the case at the previous summit in Bali. However, Russia had to settle for the G20 backing the resumption of Black Sea Grain Initiative. It does not want to resume without its grain being exported as well. The unanimous adoption of New Delhi G20 Leadership Declaration means a diplomatic victory for India and other developing countries that had been trying hard to avoid a split in the G20 over the issue of including references to Russia in the conflict in Ukraine in the joint declaration, which runs into 37 pages and spans over 80 paragraphs.

What joint communique approved by g20 members says on…

Ukraine war

All states must uphold international law, refrain from use of force to seek territorial acquisition; initiate steps for just & durable peace; use of nuclear arms is inadmissible

Religious hatred

Deplore acts of religious hatred against persons & those of symbolic nature, without prejudice to domestic legal frameworks, including religious symbols & holy books

Terrorism & Extremism

Condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations… Increase global cooperation to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of ops, financial, political support

The Tribune had reported on Friday the declaration was “almost ready” and all countries could agree on its full text. What was surprising was that the document is usually released at the end of the summit and veterans said they did not recall a joint declaration being issued on the first day of the summit itself.

“They were very tough and ruthless negotiations. The emerging markets played a key role. Eventually we said the leaders want it,” India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant told the media while attributing the success to combined efforts by developing countries.

Key issues in the declaration

Crypto assets: Endorse Financial Stability Board’s recommendations on regulation, supervision, oversight of crypto assets to mitigate risks.

Faster payments: Committed to implementing actions for next phase of roadmap for faster, cheaper, cross-border payments by 2027.

Level playing field: Discourage protectionism and market distorting practices; WTO reform to have a dispute settlement system by 2024.

Climate: Need to scale up blended finance and risk-sharing facilities with 2nd replenishment process of the Green Climate Fund for 2024-2027.

Multilateral banks: Stronger institutions key to efforts towards mobilising financing from all sources for a quantum jump to trillions of dollars for growth.

A series of tough negotiations by India with China, Russia and other key western players and a strong backing by Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia to efforts helped New Delhi achieve consensus, said sources. India convinced China to agree to the text relating to the Ukraine conflict after the EU concurred with the text, they said. Kant said negotiations with Russia and China took place on Friday night.

Explaining the dramatic development that broke a year-long logjam, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said: “Emerging markets took a lead and many of us have a strong history of working together. Also bear in mind that the G20 presidency is being held in succession by four developing countries…. But obviously because of the ongoing conflict, there were strong views about it and considerable time was spent in the last few days on geo-political issues, which centred around the war in Ukraine.”

The minister also drew attention to another para in the declaration that recognised while the G20 is not the platform to resolve geopolitical and security issues, it acknowledged these issues can have significant consequences for the global economy. A sentence acknowledged the divide by stating there were different views and assessments of the (Ukraine) situation.

Another new addition to the declaration was the resolve to promote respect for religious and cultural diversity, dialogue and tolerance. “…we strongly deplore all acts of religious hatred against a person,” it said. The other prominent issues that figure in the joint declaration include more loans to developing reform of international debt architecture, regulations on cryptocurrency and the impact of geopolitics on food and energy security.

(With PTI inputs)