Bali was Bali, New Delhi is New Delhi: Jaishankar

New Delhi: The G20 leaders declaration avoided mentioning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and made a general call to all states to follow the principle of respecting each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, in what is largely seen as a climbdown by the Western powers on the conflict.

India managed to hammer out an unexpected consensus among the G20 countries on the contentious issue through a series of hectic negotiations with emerging economies such as Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia playing a leading role in reaching the breakthrough.

The declaration issued at the G20’s Bali summit last November had deplored in the strongest terms the Russian aggression against Ukraine while most members strongly condemned the war. ‘With regard to the comparison with the Bali Declaration, I would only say Bali was Bali and New Delhi is New Delhi,’ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a media briefing.