India hopeful of consensus on declaration

New Delhi: Ahead of the G20 summit, India on Friday said the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration was “almost ready” and the negotiators were moving towards a consensus.

Refusing to get into the specifics of sticking points such as the Russia-Ukraine war and climate-related issues, India’s top G20 officials told a pre-summit press conference that they were hopeful of clinching a joint communique by consensus.

“India’s expectation is that all G20 members will move towards a consensus and we are hopeful of a consensus on the communique,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said in response to a question on the Ukraine conflict holding up an agreement on the New Delhi Declaration.