Delhi Declaration healthy solution for equitable balance of interest: Russian foreign minister

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday said that a healthy solution has been found in the Delhi Declaration, which was adopted a day earlier at the G20 summit.

"I think that a healthy solution has been found in the declaration regarding the need to strive for a clear and equitable balance of interest. It is one of the decent purposes and we are already on track. In our turn, we will continue strengthening these positive trends, including during Brazil's presidency next year and in 2025 during South Africa's presidency," Lavrov said.

While closing the session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he would convene another G20 summit via video conferencing late November. "It will be another opportunity for us to review the implementation of the agreements that we have reached today," he added further.

The Delhi Declaration does not mention Russia and refers to the Ukraine conflict as "war in Ukraine", a major climbdown from last year's Bali Declaration which had condemned the "war against Ukraine".

Ukraine on Saturday had said that the outcome document was "nothing to be proud of" and criticised it for not mentioning Russia.

On consensus over the Delhi Declaration, the Russian foreign minister said, "When they agreed to that, perhaps it was the voice of their conscience.

"Speaking frankly, we didn't expect that. Let me underline that we cannot isolate that paragraph (on Ukraine and Russia) from the rest of the work on the declaration. The main content of the declaration this year is all about the awakening of the Global South and the consolidation of the Global South that is truly willing for the G20 to work for its main goals."

African Union inclusion, Delhi Declaration adoption huge G20 Summit achievements: Shringla

The inclusion of African Union in the G20 forum and adoption of Delhi Declaration is a huge achievement, chief coordinator of India's G20 presidency Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Sunday.

"The African Union became a permanent member of the forum, and the New Delhi Declaration was adopted consensually, this is a huge achievement for us," he said while speaking to reporters.

"Given the fact that we were able to adopt the New Delhi Declaration by consensus within the first half of our first day's session despite the strong polarisation within the G20 on geopolitical issues is nothing short of the word 'extraordinary'," Shringla added further.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday had announced during the second session of the G20 summit, the adoption of the Delhi Declaration.

The final outcome document doesn't mention Russia anywhere and refers to Ukraine conflict as "war in Ukraine" in a major departure from last year's Bali Declaration, which had condemned the "war against Ukraine".

(With inputs from IANS)