‘Bali was Bali, Delhi is Delhi’: Jaishankar after G20 agreement on Ukraine war

The G20 leaders on Saturday reached a consensus on Day 1 of the G20 Summit, with the 37-page document addressing key issues including the Ukraine war. The language adopted in a declaration marks a departure from the strong condemnation of Russia’s war in Ukraine in the Bali document.

Talking about the change in language in the New Delhi Declaration from the Bali document on Ukraine war, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said, “Regarding the change in language on the Russia-Ukraine conflict from the Bali Declaration – Bali was Bali, New Delhi is Delhi. Many things have happened since the Bali Declaration.”

“One should not have a theological view of this. The New Delhi Declaration responds to the situation as it stands today. The New Delhi Declaration responds to the concerns of today just like the Bali Declaration responded to the concerns of that time,” Jaishankar said on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference, S Jaishankar spoke about the efforts made in reaching a consensus on the Ukraine issue.

“This is a declaration of 83 paras.There are a lot of subjects covered. But obviously, because of the ongoing conflict and the different views on it, considerable time was spent in the last few days with regard to geopolitical issues which were mostly centred around the war in Ukraine,” Jaishankar said.

When asked about the nations that helped reaching agreement on the Ukraine crisis, Jaishankar said, “Everybody came together to forge a consensus, but emerging markets took a particular lead on this and many of us have a strong history of working together. Bear in mind that actually, you have four developing countries in succession for the G20 presidency…Indonesia, us, Brazil and South Africa.”