India's EAM S Jaishankar reveals how India pulled off G20 joint statement diplomatic success

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has revealed how New Delhi managed to forge a joint statement at the end of the G20 Summit in New Delhi last week when many had dubbed it an unlikely outcome.

Speaking to WION's Diplomatic CorrespondentSiddhant Sibal in an exclusive interview, Jaishankar said apart from negotiating with the other G19 countries, it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who stepped up during the crucial moments.

"Within the realms of what is publicly disclosable, I would say, you know, at one level, you know, at one level there was a belief that this was G20. There has never been a G20 summit without a statement, but of course, the G20 has never faced the kind of problem that it has," Jaishankar told WION.

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The EAM said negotiators worked round the clock to bridge the gaps and close out the positions. However,when they hit any roadblocks, they would always come to him and he, in turn, would reach out to the PM.

"Onthe last day of the summit,I had toeven go to the prime minister on certain issues.So all of that, you know, came together, really. In terms of how did it happen? I would say, you know, there were certain countries certainly you know, Brazil, South Africa, India. Clearly in the lead, Indonesia, to some extent, I think you can say thecountries in the middle took a lot of initiative in trying to find a common landing ground. But again, I will give credit to the entire G20, this wouldn't have happened if every one of the G20 countries didn't feel that need to step up and come together."

Further explaining how PM Modi played a pivotal part in the successful hosting of the summit and the eventual language of the joint statement, Jaishankar revealed that the PM talked to his counterparts to resolve any deadlock.

"He [PM Modi] always has that sense, that look he was there, and as I said, in the last few hours, when we hit last few roadblocks, you know, I went to him in some cases and I said you know, it would help us if you talk to your counterpart leader and he was always willing."

PM Modi's G20 vision

Jaishankar added that it was the vision of the PM to take G20 to different cities of the country, instead of just confining it to afew meetings between officials in closed rooms.

"I would say we were enormously helped by the factthat we had a vision -- the vision and ambition of the prime minister in taking forward the G20. A lot of the concepts were his, the idea we do it in different cities, we do it in this way, projecting our culture, our traditions. He was not happy, just officials meeting in rooms. For him what was the impact of that in the world? So he encouraged us to take it out, to involve universities, colleges, and professional organisations," said the EAM.

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