Philipp Ackermann, the German Ambassador to India, on Monday, February 6, 2023, stated that G20 under the Indian government was an extremely organized conference, and everyone felt pleased with the context.
Under the present circumstances, G20 is a difficult business, but he said that the Indian side did it maturely. He added that everybody was happy with the context, and his ministry had a couple of very good bilaterals on the side. The German envoy stated that he regrets that the geopolitical situation overshadowed everything else in the G20.
Philipp Ackermann said that on the G20, he would say that, unfortunately, the Russians and the Chinese did not allow communique as they did not accept any more of the language of Bali they had received earlier. That is a shame, as he thinks the Indian chair presented a very impressive draft, and they negotiated for quite a while.
He added that, like in Bangalore, the Chinese and the Russians have made that communique impossible. He outlined that he was following what people said attentively and were very glad that other items also came on the agenda, like poverty reduction, food security and climate change.
Everything was on the agenda as well, and again he must say that he admires the Indian chair for doing under such circumstances and coming up with a unique and interesting conference. At the Raisina Dialogue organized in Delhi from March 2 to 4, he stated that there was this big Raisina movement in India where also a few German parliamentarians came, and what he got from impressions is that it was a huge success.
He said Kudos to the Indian government and the Indian protocol as they did an amazing job with the G20 presidency. He stated that Indians had had a very hectic week with the G20 as well as the German chancellor’s visit.