New Delhi: With praise coming to him from the likes of Shashi Tharoor, India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant credited his team of “dynamic and committed” officers who held 300 meetings and circulated 15 drafts for reaching a consensus on the New Delhi Declaration.
It was challenging to create a consensus on the joint declaration due to the Ukraine war, but India has accomplished this with its diplomatic skills, Kant said.
The team carried out negotiations for more than 200 hours to bring out the joint communique as G20 leaders had contrasting opinions over Russia’s war on Ukraine, he said.
The G20 Leaders’ Declaration avoided mention of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and instead called on all countries to respect the principles of each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“Concerning the war in Ukraine, while recalling the discussion in Bali, we reiterated our national positions and resolutions adopted at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly (A/RES/ES-11/1 and A/RES/ES-11/6) and underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety,” the declaration says.
“In line with the UN Charter, all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible,” it adds.
“We call on all countries to uphold the principles of international law, including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and the multilateral system that protects peace and stability,” the declaration reads.
Kant was generous in praising his team. “With my young, dynamic & committed team of officers who have delivered 100% consensus on the G20,” he tweeted Friday, tagging officers who worked tirelessly for the marquee event.
He again tweeted Sunday reiterating that the “most complex part of the entire G20 was to bring consensus on the geopolitical paras (Russia-Ukraine)”.
The retired IAS officer put up another tweet in which he applauded the “young, vibrant and dynamic finance track team of G20”.
Kant’s team of bureaucrats and diplomats included Abhay Thakur (additional secretary), Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur (joint secretary), Ashish Kumar Sinha (joint secretary) and Enam Gambhir (joint secretary).
Six years ago, Eenam Gambhir was in the news when she rebuffed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s claims regarding Kashmir at the United Nations General Assembly.
Eenam has served as Senior Advisor on Peace and Security Issues in the Office of the President of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. She has worked in the Indian embassies in Latin America, including Mexico and Argentina. She speaks fluent Spanish. She has also worked in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.
Abhay Thakur, who is the second Sous-Sherpa after Amitabh Kant, has been India’s ambassador to Mauritius and Nigeria, and also knows Nepal and Bhutan closely in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He is well-versed in Russian.
Nagraj Naidu, who is well-versed in Chinese, has worked in different positions in Beijing, Hong Kong and Guangzhou and has also handled the diplomatic division in the Ministry of External Affairs. He was the main negotiator in the Ukraine conflict, in the G20 summit.
Ashish Sinha has represented India in Madrid, Kathmandu, New York and Nairobi. He also held the charge of Desk Officer for Pakistan in the MEA.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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