'Proud moment for India at G20': Shashi Tharoor hails India's G20 Sherpa for Delhi Declaration consensus

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday hailed India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant for the 'Delhi Declaration' consensus, and said it was a "proud moment for India at G20".

Tagging Kant's remarks in an interview on how the consensus was achieved on the paragraphs on Russia-Ukraine, Tharoor said in a post on X, "Well done @amitabhk87!Looks like the IFS lost an ace diplomat when you opted for the IAS!"

"'Negotiated with Russia, China, only last night got final draft,' says India's G20 Sherpa on 'Delhi Declaration' consensus. A proud moment for India at G20!" Tharoor, a former under secretary-general, said in his post late Saturday night.

India on Saturday pulled off a big diplomatic win after the G20 summit adopted a consensus declaration overcoming major differences on the Russia-Ukraine war.

On Sunday, Kant said it took over 200 hours of non-stop negotiations by a team of Indian diplomats to deliver a consensus on the G20 declaration that was adopted at the Leaders' Summit here.

The team of diplomats, including joint secretaries Eenam Gambhir and K Nagraj Naidu, held 300 bilateral meetings and circulated 15 drafts with their counterparts on the contentious Ukraine conflict to drive home a consensus that was clinched on the first day of the G20 Leaders Summit itself.

"The most complex part of the entire G20 was to bring consensus on the geopolitical paras (Russia-Ukraine). This was done over 200 hours of non-stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings and 15 drafts," Kant said.

Kant said he was greatly assisted in the efforts by Naidu and Gambhir.

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