Delhi Declaration: Sherpa Amitabh Overshadows MEA, EAM Jaishankar Makes Amends

India’s sherpa for G-20 Amitabh Kant seems to have got into trouble for trying to project the G-20 Delhi Declaration as a personal achievement, nearly overshadowing the role of the MEA and the external affairs minister S Jaishankar. Of course, he did attribute the role of four key MEA officials who worked with him on the draft declaration and had helped him negotiate with other countries, but eventually he ended up claiming MEA’s effort as all his own. At least from the way he was seen making his point in the media — how he was awake till 4 am to finalise the draft, it may seem he was the only man on the job. It first started off with a tweet that Kant put out on September 9, the day the G-20 Delhi Declaration was accepted crediting the IFS officers who worked with him. Kant was all over the media and in the social media space, much to the surprise of the MEA too. The Congress, which was disappointed by the success of G-20 Delhi Declaration, decided to focus on sherpa Kant rather than the political leadership of both PM Modi and Jaishankar. Singling out Kant for praise, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor noted “Looks like the IFS lost an ace diplomat when you opted for the IAS!” but generously acknowledged that it was “A proud moment for India at G20!” With things getting uneasy with the MEA, Kant clarified a day later to Tharoor how it was “not about IAS or IFS. It is about working as a Team for the country.” Now to bring MEA’s perspective about its role in G-20, Jaishankar is back again making his points.