VASUDHAIVA KUTUMBAKAM

"MODI ki guarantee" and "Modi ka magic" helped in bringing about the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration, said a source who witnessed the deliberations at the 18th G20 Summit in New Delhi.

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India managed to hammer out an unexpected consensus among the G20 countries on the contentious Ukraine conflict through a series of hectic negotiations. The consensus document had 10 broad themes and 37 sub-heads. But nearly all of this was accepted by the leaders of the G20 nations.

The text relating to Ukraine conflict saw "a convergent consensus and not a divisive consensus. The sentiment in the room was buoyant," the source said, adding that the Prime Minister was "a junction box of democratic values".

Refusing to draw any comparison with the Bali Declaration, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a media briefing, "Bali was Bali and New Delhi is New Delhi. I mean, Bali was a year ago." It was wrong to draw any inferences, he said.

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. The New Delhi declaration does not feature these formulations.

Meanwhile, Russia is rather happy with the declaration.

"The summit is an unconditional success for the Indian Presidency and for all of us.