UN chief Antonio Guterres praises India’s G20 presidency

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Wednesday praised India’s Presidency of the G20 Summit and underlined that New Delhi did its greatest to have the voice of the Global South represented and put the event agenda on the centre of debate throughout its year-long management of the grouping.

Guterres made the remarks at a press convention right here in response to a query by PTI on the simply concluded G20 Summit and the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration adopted by consensus beneath the Indian presidency.

“I’d like to say and I believe I should pay tribute to the Indian presidency. The Indian presidency did its best in order to have the South’s voice represented and did its best to put the development agenda in the center of the discussions of the G20,” he stated.

“Of course, the conclusions are what they are. They depend on what countries are ready to accept. But I think that effort needs to be underlined,” he stated.

Guterres, who travelled to Delhi to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit on September 9 and 10 within the Indian capital, stated that the “simple fact that there being a consensus” on adopting the declaration implies that there was a compromise and “compromise is something that is essential in present days.”

Earlier, in his remarks on the press convention forward of the UN General Assembly session that begins right here subsequent week, Guterres stated that his attraction to world leaders coming to the UN headquarters for the high-level session might be clear that this isn’t a time for posturing or positioning and this isn’t a time for indifference or indecision.

“This is a time to come together for real, practical solutions. It is time for compromise for a better tomorrow. Politics is compromise. Diplomacy is compromise. Effective leadership is compromise. If we want a future of peace and prosperity based on equity and solidarity, leaders have a special responsibility to achieve compromise in designing our common future for our common good. Next week here in New York is the place to start,” he stated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted leaders of the world’s greatest economies, together with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov amongst others, for the G20 Leaders’ Summit on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi.

As G20 President, India pulled off an enormous diplomatic win with the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration on the summit, overcoming main variations on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Edited By:

Sudeep Lavania

Published On:

Sep 13, 2023