Amitabh Kant Reveals G7 Pressure on India to Invite Zelenskyy, India Maintained Exclusive G20 Guest List

New Delhi: Former NITI Aayog CEO and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant in his book ‘How India Scaled Mt G20: The Inside Story of G20 Presidency’, revealed that G7 countries pressured India to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while Russia pushed for the inclusion of the word ‘sanction.’ 

Kant in his book recalls about Alexander Pankin as Russia’s key negotiator, “..insisted on the inclusion of the word ‘sanction’. This led to extensive discussions with Pankin, lasting for two and a half hours, to persuade them to reconsider.”

He also says that throughout the negotiations, the G7 countries were pressuring India to invite Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, India’s stance was to keep the guest list exclusive to the G20 leaders. 

When Zelenskyy ‘Hijacked’ G20 Meeting in Bali

Kant in his book writes that, “In the previous instance in Bali, when Zelenskyy was invited by Indonesia, he dominated the meeting with a non-stop 25-minute virtual speech, effectively hijacking the event.”

"On Dr Jaishankar's advice, I had to inform the Russian negotiator that if they didn't agree, the first speaker following PM Modi's speech would be Zelenskyy. This bold and assertive negotiation tactic ultimately worked, and Russia relented," Kant wrote.

Kant writes that this bold and assertive negotiation tactic, including a key warning to Russia, ultimately succeeded in convincing them to relent.

But there was another hurdle, Kant says. The head of the Chinese team pointed out a bilateral challenge with the US, stemming from a greened portion of the G20 declaration that stated that the 2026 G20 Summit would be hosted in the US.

The Chinese Sherpa explained that the US would not grant them visas, not even for their governor in Hong Kong. They would not agree to the geopolitical paras until they received a written guarantee that they would be issued visas, the book says.

Kant then recalls that at about 8 in the morning of September 9, Modi visited the Bharat Mandapam for an inspection before the start of the leaders' meeting.

"I was to brief him on our progress so far. When he enquired about the Leaders' Declaration, I outlined the conflict between the US and China and informed him that the NDLD was still not finalized.