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India had ‘major influence’ on counter-terror discussions at G20 Summit: Sherpa Arvind Panagariya

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 7/8/2017 10:36:17 PM

Addressing a press conference in Germany, India’s Sherpa at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Arvind Panagariya, said India had a major influence on counter-terrorism discussions at G20. He said that a joint statement on fighting terror was to be an annexure to the G20 declaration but India pitched for it to be a separate statement. Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi admitted that international response to the menace of terrorism was weak. In an apparent reference to Pakistan, PM Modi had said that some nations are using terrorism in order to achieve political goals while calling upon world leaders to show solidarity in fighting terrorism.
India’s Sherpa at the G20 Summit is NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya. He was appointed Sherpa for the G20 Summit in 2015.
Speaking on climate change, Panagariya said India needs more time to process completely to clean fuel. He pointed that US’ stand on climate change is different from that of other countries. He added that US wants inclusion of fossil fuel. On US’ climate change stance, Panagariya said, “There were differences but nobody was isolated, though Europeans had much stronger position.” He said that the negotiations on G20 communique took longer due to the differences on some issues, including the change in government in the US, and other countries. Panagariya further added that India played a significant role in talks on trade and investment.
A Sherpa is a personal representative of the leader of a member country at an international Summit meeting such as the G8, G20 or the Nuclear Security Summit. The person engages in planning, negotiation and implementation tasks through the Summit. They coordinate the agenda, seek consensus at the highest political levels, and participate in a series of pre-Summit consultations to help negotiate their leaders’ positions.