Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday engaged with the officials and staff from his office to receive a briefing about their experiences during the G20 summit. Following this, he made an impromptu visit to the Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, where he interacted with staff from all levels, including officers, of the Ministry of External Affairs, discussing their G20 experiences. During the visit, he expressed his gratitude to the officials for their tireless efforts, which contributed significantly to the summit’s success.
Accompanying the Prime Minister during this visit was External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
For the G20 summit, a total of 114 lead officers from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) were deployed under the guidance of G20 Sherpa for India, Amitabh Kant, and Chief Coordinator Harsh Shringla. Additionally, in August, 140 young officers from various services were inducted to assist in the organization of the summit.
Senior officials from the MEA played crucial roles in negotiations with member states, ultimately leading to a consensus for the joint communique. The G20 Leaders Summit, held in New Delhi on September 9-10 under India’s presidency, resulted in the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, achieving consensus on all issues, including the contentious Russia-Ukraine matter. This success was the outcome of relentless negotiations spanning over 200 hours, involving 300 bilateral meetings, and iterating through 15 drafts.
Amitabh Kant highlighted the formidable contributions of his team members, including senior MEA officials Abhay Thakur, Nagaraj Naidu, Ashish Sinha, and Eenam Gambhir, in shaping the conclusive draft document.
