New Delhi, Sep 9: India on Saturday pulled off a big diplomatic win after the G20 summit adopted a consensus declaration overcoming major differences on the Russia-Ukraine war, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for ending “global trust deficit”. Modi also announced that African Union was admitted as G20’s permanent member.
Asserting that “today’s era must not be of war”, the New Delhi G20 Summit Leaders’ Declaration under India’s presidency called on all States to uphold the principles of international law, including territorial integrity and sovereignty and pitched for initiatives for “comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine”.
“The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.” The announcement about a consensus on the 37-page declaration and its subsequent adoption was made by Prime Minister Modi at the start of the second session on the opening day of the two-day summit of the grouping of major developed and developing countries. It came hours after India circulated a new text to the members countries to describe the Ukraine conflict.
“Friends, we have just got good news, with the hard work of our teams, and with the cooperation of you all, there is consensus on the New Delhi G20 Summit Leaders’ Declaration,” Modi said.
“I announce that this declaration is adopted,” he said, and banged the gavel thrice.
“History has been created with the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration. United in consensus and spirit, we pledge to work collaboratively for a better, more prosperous, and harmonious future. My gratitude to all fellow G20 members for their support and cooperation,” Modi said later on X.
The G20 leaders also condemned terrorism in all its forms and called for strengthening of efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of operations as well as financial, material or political support. “It constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.” They also called for a strong, sustainable, and inclusive growth as an answer to the uneven recovery the world has seen from the pandemic-infused plunder, and flagged the need for trillions of dollars for countries to meet their climate goals and clean energy technologies.
On other issues, the G20 grouping strongly deplored all acts of religious hatred against persons, religious symbols and holy books. They emphasised the freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly.
In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Modi urged world leaders to turn the “global trust deficit” into trust and confidence and announced that the African Union has been granted permanent membership of the grouping.
All member countries of the G20 accepted Modi’s proposal to bring the 55-member African Union(AU) to the high table of the world’s top economies in a significant milestone under India’s G20 presidency.
The leaders attending the two-day summit included US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. (PTI) See P-9
