In an unexpected early breakthrough and success for India’s Presidency, G-20 members agreed to a joint statement, forging consensus on the contentious “Ukraine paragraphs”, and also accepted the membership of the African Union into the grouping on Saturday. The final document marks a shift in the position taken by the U.S., the European Union and G-7 countries, and dilutes the harsh criticism of Russia contained in last year’s Bali G-20 statement. Diplomats and officials said that the final breakthrough followed a proposal by Indonesia-India-Brazil-South Africa, which The Hindu has seen, that was negotiated until past midnight on Friday, and again on Saturday. The development was announced directly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who stopped proceedings during the second session of the Summit on day 1.
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“I have just got some good news right now,” Mr. Modi said to the leaders gathered. “Due to the hard work of our team and your support, we have achieved consensus on the New Delhi G-20 Leaders’ Summit Declaration. I propose we adopt this Leaders’ declaration,” he added, and then pronounced it adopted with a bang of his gavel, a day before the Summit actually ended.
