'Bali was Bali, Delhi is Delhi': Jaishankar on Delhi Declaration text on Ukraine

The New Delhi Declaration does not name Russia, mentions war in Ukraine and not ‘against’ Ukraine.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday dismissed any comparison between the Bali declaration and the New Delhi declaration of the G20 leaders and said the situation when the Bali Declaration was adopted was different. "In regards to the comparison with the Bali declaration, I can only say Bali was Bali and New Delhi is New Delhi. Bali was a year ago, the situation was different. Many things have happened since then," Jaishankar said at the press conference after the consensus was achieved over the joint statement of the G20 leaders.

<a href=External affairs minister S Jaishankar at press briefing of G20 on Saturday. " />

"In the geo-political segment of the leaders' declaration, there are in totality eight paragraphs and seven of which actually focus on the Ukraine issue and many of them highlight problems which are of great contemporary significance. One should not have a theological view of this," Jaishankar said.

“New Delhi declaration responds to the situation and concerns as it is today just as the Bali declaration did in a situation which was there a year ago,” the external affairs minister said.

Jaishankar said China was very supportive of various outcomes at the G20 summit. "It’s for every country to decide at what level they will be represented. I don’t think one should overly read meanings into it. What I think is important is what is the position that country has taken, and how much that country has contributed to the deliberations and the outcomes, and I would say that China was very supportive of the various outcomes," Jaishankar said.

In a milestone, India at its G20 presidency achieved consensus as all the leaders adopted the declaration after India changed its text on Ukraine. "Concerning the war in Ukraine, while recalling the discussion in Bali, we reiterated our national positions and resolutions adopted at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly (A/RES/ES-11/1 and A/RES/ES-11/6) and underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety. In line with the UN Charter, all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible," the declaration on Ukraine read.