100% Consensus on New Delhi Declaration: A Testament to India’s Deft Diplomacy

Turning his prophetic words into action- “Our G20 Presidency strives to bridge divides, dismantle barriers, and sow seeds of collaboration that nourish a world where unity prevails over discord, where shared destiny eclipses isolation”, India’s G20 presidency has delivered it all. Setting forth an ambitious vision of: “One Earth, One Family and One Future” drawn from the guiding civilisational ethos of Bharat, “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam” India has turned the G20 into a people’s movement.

Expanding its reach, taking it to every nook and corner of this vast country, roping in numerous stakeholders, and involving the state governments upholding the true spirit of cooperative federalism, India has revolutionized the multilateral functional framework of the G20. As part of the G20 presidency, India held 220+ meetings in 60 cities, hosted 43 Leaders (heads of state/government), and felicitated over 25,000 delegates of 115 nationalities.

Suffusing the G20 summit with indigenous ethos, showcasing the eternality of this civilization and stoically managing the contemporary geopolitical turbulences, India forged the near-impossible wide-ranging global consensus. The issues spanned- sustainable growth, technological transformation, clean energy, SDGs, reformation of multilateral institutions, international taxation, financial sector issues, gender equality, terrorism and the creation of an inclusive world.

Deploying a human-centric approach, working relentlessly with the developed world and the developing economies, India has brought to the fore the New Delhi Declaration which was unanimously approved by all the members. This roadmap can steer the course in these geopolitically uncertain times ridden with conflict and animosity.  The declaration mirrored the certitude of India positioning her as a responsible power capable of leading and offering solutions. Instead of reducing inclusivity to a footnote, India facilitated it by lending a voice to the African Union (AU) and making it the 21^st member of the group.

Objectively clear about its vision for the G20 Presidency, a month after taking up the mantle, India virtually hosted the Summit of Voice of the Global South participated by 125 countries, a majority of which were from were Global South. India empathised with their concerns. Putting upfront the interests of the Global South, prioritising their insecurities, pushing for fairer practices and batting for reforms of multilateral development banks, India has credibly rallied for the Global South. Alongside, India propped up support for the admission of AU as a permanent member of G20. These twin actions besides building India’s goodwill, burnished her credentials as a reliable voice of the Global South.

Since February 2022, the Ukraine crisis upstaged every major global conversation. Besieged by the Ukraine crisis resolution, issues of growth and development paramount for the emerging economies were thrown away in reckless abandon. Wrecked by tumultuous headwinds of uncertainty global economic growth ran below average and was uneven. The Ukraine issue has exacerbated the global challenges. With G7 countries markedly devoted to the Ukraine issue, even the G20 Bali summit ended up ceding much space to the same. Developing countries facing debt crisis believed that the rich countries must increase their assistance to support their economies. This inadvertently created rifts.

Determined to bring back the focus of G20 to global economic and development issues and not allow geopolitics to dominate the agenda, India didn’t invite Ukraine. Shifting the focus away from Ukraine and chartering a course that can find solutions for food shortages, rising inflation, and increasing debts, India has rightly capitalised on ‘Ukraine fatigue’ that has set in. With deft diplomacy, dynamism and the fortitude to bring together a fractured world, India indulged in painstaking negotiations with all the countries to reach a consensus.

Consensus eluded with many ministerial - foreign, finance and development ministers meetings ending in a stalemate. Till weeks ahead of the summit, reaching a consensus seemed unthinkable. The rapid geopolitical events like the expansion of BRICS and Chinese attempts to woo the Global South, aggressive muscle flexing, reluctance to open up lines of communication with the US, and the unabashed ambitious alternate world order pursuits forced the US to align with India.

The West willingly partnered with India and wanted her Presidency to succeed. Even Japan held similar views as nothing frustrates China more than India’s success on the global platform. The only point of difference between the developing world and the G7 is Russia. While Russia let self-condemnation at the Bali summit pass, Moscow was not ready for a repetition of compromise language.

At this juncture, India assisted by the countries of the Global South- Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa assisted by Mexico and Turkey mediated the language of the declaration. Through smart wordplay, India has conveyed the broader message of the countries in the most agreeable and least objectionable way- “Today’s era must not be of war”. India neutered the strongest condemnations by essentially retaining the essence. The declaration subtly conveyed the message that suited the interpretation of every country-“we call on all states to uphold the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability”.

Simultaneously the declaration underscored- “the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and efforts to address crises as well as diplomacy and dialogue are critical” and pronounced, “we will unite…. And welcome all relevant and constructive initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine that will uphold all the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter for the promotion of peaceful, friendly and good neighbourly relations”. Reflecting the concerns of the Global South the declaration states, “emphasizing the importance of sustaining food and energy security, we called for the cessation of military destruction or other attacks on relevant infrastructure”.

With a renewed focus on addressing contemporary global challenges, India has resurrected the image of G20 and its credibility. By obtaining unanimous approval of the members for the 83-para declaration without a single dissent, India has miraculously pulled off a diplomatic coup of sorts that resonated with its rising geopolitical clout.

The five key outcomes of the Declaration are the Green Development Pact, an Action Plan on Sustainable Development Goals, High-Level Principles on Anti-Corruption, Support for Digital Public Infrastructure, and Reforms of Multilateral Development Banks. India has launched the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Industrial Coalition (RECEIC), a collaborative platform that promotes alliances, encourages technological cooperation, fosters innovation and knowledge transfer. As a Presidency initiative, India has also established the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre steered by the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

World Bank’s recent report hailed India’s phenomenal financial inclusion through digital transformation which rests on the foundation of Harnessing Data for Development (D4D). India’s robust digital public infrastructure (DPI) is now an instant attraction among developing countries. G20 countries have welcomed India’s plans to build and maintain a Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR), a virtual repository of DPI. India has also proposed One Future Alliance (OFA), a voluntary initiative to build capacity, and provide technical assistance and funding support for implementing DPI in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).

In line with its strong commitment to curbing emissions, and recognising the importance of sustainable biofuels, India launched the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) at the summit along with founding members- Brazil and US. 19 countries and 12 organisations agreed to join GBA. India has set a target of 20% ethanol blending by 2025, India attained the 10% blending target ahead of time in June 2022.

Riding on the back of the unique distinction of being the first nation to land on the lunar south pole, India has left no stone unturned to project her rapid transformation by rightly investing in the state-of-the-art infrastructure to host the summit. Gloriously showcasing civilisational artifacts and technical prowess while extending lavish hospitality in tune with its cultural values of “athidi devobhava”, India proclaimed her identity as a civilisational state.

Undoubtedly, the success of delivering the New Delhi Leaders Declaration shall be reckoned as a diplomatic triumph in the annals of Indian diplomacy. “Miles to go before” Bharat becomes “Vishwa Guru”. But by building consensus and trust among the comity of nations, India is certainly “Vishwa Mitra”.

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