G20 adopts Delhi Declaration
PNS|New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, a significant victory for India’s G20 presidency that came amid increasing tensions and divergent views over the Ukraine conflict.
The announcement about the consensus on the declaration and its subsequent adoption came hours after India circulated a new text to the G20 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 told the leaders at the summit.
“I announce that this declaration is adopted (Banged the gavel thrice),” he announced. The G20 Leaders’ Summit is being attended by US President Joe Biden, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva among others. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not attending the summit.
Prime Minister Modi is chairing the G20 summit.
“On this occasion, I convey my heartfelt thanks to ministers, sherpas and all officials who worked hard to make this possible and they are worthy of being praised,” Modi said.Hailing the breakthrough, India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant posted on X, “Historical & Path breaking #G20 Declaration with 100% consensus on all developmental and geo-political issues.
The new geopolitical paras are a powerful call for Planet, People, Peace and Prosperity in todays world . Demonstrates PM @narendramodi leadership in today’s world.”
It is understood that the G20 countries agreed on the new text to describe the Ukraine conflict that was circulated by India this morning.
There was no consensus on the text to describe the Ukraine issue at the G20 Sherpa meeting that took place in Nuh district of Haryana from September 3-6.
The G20 operates under the principle of consensus.
Both Russia and China had agreed to the two paragraphs on the Ukraine conflict in the Bali declaration, but they backtracked from it this year creating difficulties for India.
Almost all key meetings held under India’s G20 presidency including those of finance and foreign ministers, could not come out with consensus documents in view of opposition from Russia and China to any text referring to the Ukraine conflict.
Significant points
War in Ukraine: Asserting that “today’s era must not be of war”, the G20 countries called on all states to uphold the principles of international law, including territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Countering Terrorism and Money Laundering: A holistic approach on the basis of international law can effectively counter terrorism. Efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation should be strengthened to deny terrorist groups safe haven.
Economy & Climate: G20 leaders 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 trillions of dollar that countries would need to meet their climate goals and clean energy technologies.
Agriculture: Stating that rising commodity prices are contributing to cost of living pressures, the G20 leaders committed to facilitate “open, fair, predictable, and rules-based” trade in agriculture, food and fertilisers and not impose export curbs in line with relevant WTO rules. The member countries also committed to support developing countries’ efforts and capacities to address their food security challenges.
Education: Recognising the importance of investment in supporting human capital development, the G20 committed to harness digital technologies to overcome digital divides for all learners and support educational institutions and teachers in keeping pace with emerging trends and technological advances.
Religion: The G20 strongly deplored all acts of religious hatred against persons, religious symbols and holy books. “We note the UNGA Resolution A/RES/77/318, particularly its commitment to promote respect for religious and cultural diversity, dialogue and tolerance. We also emphasize that freedom of religion or belief, freedom of opinion or expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to freedom of association are interdependent, inter-related and mutually reinforcing and stress the role that these rights can play in the fight against all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief.”
Corruption: The G20 reaffirmed its commitment to zero tolerance for corruption and called for strengthening law enforcement-related international cooperation and information sharing for combating graft. The joint Declaration also called for strengthening asset recovery mechanisms for combating corruption.
Global Growth: “We reaffirm our commitment to the effective implementation of the prioritised actions for the next phase of the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments to achieve global targets for faster, cheaper, more transparent and inclusive cross-border payments.
