G20 Summit: Sherpa Amitabh Kant says Leaders' Declaration 'almost ready'

"Our focus is to drive a consensus on the priorities of the G20 and bring together the leaders around the vision. There is by and large strong effort from everyone to move towards a consensus," foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said on September 8.

The New Delhi Leaders' Declaration is "almost ready" and will be placed before the G20 leaders for their approval, India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has said.

"Our New Delhi Leaders' Declaration is almost ready. I would not like to dwell on it because this declaration will be recommended to the leaders and the leaders will then accept it," Kant said on September 8 in New Delhi.

"Only after it has been accepted by the leaders we will be able to talk about the actual achievements of this declaration."

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Kant, along with foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra, economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth, and chief G20 coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla were addressing the global media ahead of the start of the Leaders' Summit on September 9.

The Ukraine question

Kant's comments come amid intense speculation about India's ability to bring together the G20 members and issue a joint statement, or communique, at a time when the world order is deeply divided on account of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The world's leading countries such as the US want a deep condemnation of Russia's aggression, while Moscow has refused to back down and said it will oppose any joint statement that does not reflect its views.

When pressed on the nature of the proposed Leaders' Declaration, Kant said he could not get into the details as he was only the Sherpa of India's leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"So, the recommendations of the Sherpas are made to their respective leaders. The leaders have to accept those recommendations and approve them. Once they are approved, that will get into the public domain and we will be able to talk about it… I would request all of you to realise the high nature of confidentiality of the Leaders' Declaration because it has to be placed before the Leaders and they have to approve it," Kant said.

He, however, did say that the declaration would reflect the voice of the Global South and developing countries.

"No document in the world would have such a strong voice for the Global South and the developing countries as the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration,” Kant said.

Earlier in the day, the US offered help. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, who is New Delhi, said the United States was willing to work with India to help craft a communique but it would be a challenge.

"So I understand that this is challenging to craft such language, but I know the negotiators are discussing it, and working hard to do so and we stand ready certainly to work with India to try to craft a communique that successfully addresses this concern," news agency Reuters quoted Yellen as telling reporters at a briefing.

While language describing the Russia-Ukraine war has been a key sticking point — making it impossible for India' to issue a communiqué after any of the G20 ministerial meetings during the course of its presidency —  other issues, too, have proven difficult to negotiate. These include food and energy security and climate action.

Russia's attack on Ukraine has led to extreme volatility in global food and energy prices, making it a big issue over the course of not just India's but Indonesia's G20 presidency too. It is likely to be carried into Brazil’s term as well when the South American nation takes over from India.

At the Gandhinagar meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in July, a report on the “Macroeconomic Impacts of Food and Energy Insecurity and their Implications for the Global Economy” was submitted. Russia's opposition to the report was noted in a footnote to the chair's Summary.

China hurdle

China, meanwhile, is also against a key component of any debt-related agreement, with sources saying the G20 is pushing for a package that has "climate-resilient features".

The opposition from Chin, a key creditor for poor and vulnerable middle-income countries seeking debt relief, is "almost becoming inhuman".

Also Read: War, food and energy security key sticking points ahead of leaders' meet

According to reports, the Indian presidency has proposed a statement that condemns the war in Ukraine but also includes Russia and China's views to avoid the issuance of another chair's Summary.

Speaking at the briefing on September 8, foreign secretary Kwatra said the Indian presidency expects all G20 members to work toward a consensus and that outcome was expected. The focus was to drive a consensus on the G20's priorities, he said.

"We are very happy that by and large, there is a strong effort by all the countries, all the delegations present, to move towards a consensus," Kwatra said.