New Delhi: The spirit of accommodation and reconciliation seen at G20 Summit found missing at home, senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor said on Monday a day after the much hyped event ended in New Delhi.
"…the government has managed a very adroit diplomatic maneuver in pulling off a successful formula that had seemed elusive for the last nine months. That is very much to India’s credit and can be classified as a success", Tharoor said while talking to The Indian Express in an exclusive interview.
However, the same spirit of accommodation is not seen domestically, Tharoor said. To justify his views, Tharoor highlighted the absence of opposition party leaders, especially the leaders of the opposition parties in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – Indian Parliament’s Lower and Upper Houses, from the G20 events.
“The Leader of the Opposition and every other Opposition MP, including members of the committees dealing with foreign affairs, were conspicuous by their absence since the government did not invite any of them to attend any of the events — receptions or the dinner. “So, the result has been that the spirit of accommodation that has succeeded at the diplomatic level is completely absent from our domestic engagements. “There is no effort to promote conciliation within and the sad thing is that this is happening in a country which advertises itself as a mother of democracy. No other democracy would have excluded the Leader of the Opposition and other Opposition leaders in this way”, he said.
“The Leader of the Opposition and every other Opposition MP, including members of the committees dealing with foreign affairs, were conspicuous by their absence since the government did not invite any of them to attend any of the events — receptions or the dinner.
“So, the result has been that the spirit of accommodation that has succeeded at the diplomatic level is completely absent from our domestic engagements.
“There is no effort to promote conciliation within and the sad thing is that this is happening in a country which advertises itself as a mother of democracy. No other democracy would have excluded the Leader of the Opposition and other Opposition leaders in this way”, he said.
A day earlier, Shashi Tharoor had praised India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant for ‘200 hours of non-stop negotiations' to deliver a consensus on the G20 declaration that was adopted at the 2-day World Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on September 09 and 10, 2023.
"Well done @amitabhk87! Looks like the IFS lost an ace diplomat when you opted for the IAS!” Tharoor wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). "Negotiated with Russia, China, only last night got a final draft," says India's G20 Sherpa on 'Delhi Declaration' consensus. A proud moment for India at G20!" he added.
"Well done @amitabhk87! Looks like the IFS lost an ace diplomat when you opted for the IAS!” Tharoor wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"Negotiated with Russia, China, only last night got a final draft," says India's G20 Sherpa on 'Delhi Declaration' consensus. A proud moment for India at G20!" he added.
Giving a hint of how India was able to bring in consensus on Delhi G20 Declaration, Amitabh Kant wrote on X:
“The most complex part of the entire #G20 was to bring consensus on the geopolitical paras (Russia-Ukraine). This was done over 200 hours of non -stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings, 15 drafts. In this, I was greatly assisted by two brilliant officers - @NagNaidu08 & @eenamg.”
Besides the two mentioned by India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, there are also other two diplomats - Abhay Thakur and Ashish Sinha who were part of the negotiations for the G20 Summit 2023 final declaration.
Abhay Thakur, a Russian speaker, is Sous-sherpa and no. 2 to India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant whereas Ashish Sinha, a fluent in Spanish, is 2005 batch IFS officer.
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