Addressing a press conference ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit on 9-10 September, Kant said he would reveal more about the declaration, also referred to as a joint communique, after it has been accepted by the leaders. However, he said the declaration will include the voice of the global south and developing countries.
“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, adding the war in Ukraine has been discussed in great length even though G20 is an economic forum as it was understood in Bali, but the war has had an impact on fertilizer and food security.
“And only after it (leader’s communique) has been accepted will we be able to talk about the actual achievements of this Declaration," he added.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has divided G20 nations, with ministerial meetings during the Indian presidency unable to issue communiques or joint statements from member nations. This has left the G20 leaders with the challenging task of coming out with a communique. All previous G20 presidencies have released communiques in the past. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that her country was willing to work with India to help craft a communique, Reuters reported. However, drafting it may be a challenging task. Meanwhile, Kant also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a great believer in the global south, has written to G20 leaders to include the African Union as a member of the grouping.
There have been positive responses from G20 leaders, he said, adding that the leaders are expected to take a call soon.
The press conference was addressed by India’s G20 sherpa Amitabh Kant, economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra, and chief G20 Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla. Kwatra said the concerns of the global south are central to the discussions at G20 under the Indian presidency.
Kant said India took over the G20 presidency at Bali last year amid issues of war, slow growth and food security, which have been discussed at great length by G20 members.
Key priorities of the Indian presidency include driving sustainable and inclusive growth, accelerated sustainable development growth, climate finance, digital public infrastructure and goods, just energy transition, health, education and employment, as well as international peace and harmony.
“Only 12 of the 169 sustainable development goals (SDGs) are on track, and we are way behind schedule. We are midway at the 2030 Action Point," Kant said. Accelerating SDGs, improving learning outcomes, health outcomes, and nutrition were very critical for India’s presidency, he added.
Kant also said that India’s digital public infrastructure is a great achievement of its presidency. “Few people knew about digital public infrastructure when India took over the G20 Presidency. One of our great achievements, or key takeaways, is that the world acknowledges that India has truly revolutionized digital payments," he added.
Kwatra said he was hoping for G20 leaders to reach a consensus, an outcome, which leads to a communique or a joint statement.
“Our focus is to drive a consensus on the priorities of the G20 and bring together the leaders around the vision," Kwatra said.
On Friday, Prime Minister Modi said on social media site X (formerly Twitter) that he looked forward to productive discussions with world leaders over the next two days.
“It is my firm belief that the New Delhi G20 Summit will chart a new path in human-centric and inclusive development," he added.
Separately, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US treasury secretary Janet Yellen met on Friday to discuss key G20 priorities and bilateral cooperation.
rhik.kundu@livemint.com
Updated: 09 Sep 2023, 12:25 AM IST
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