India hosted the G20 summit in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. The two day summit is scheduled to end on Sunday after which the country will pass the presidency to Brazil. At the G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed that a consensus has been reached over a joint declaration by the leaders.
“ I have received good news. Due to the hard work of our team, consensus has been built on New Delhi G20 Leaders' Summit Declaration,” the prime minister said at Bharat Mandapam.
Going into the G20 summit, there were a lot of speculations on whether leaders would be able to agree on a joint declaration. However, after several rounds of negotiations, the New Delhi declaration has been adopted.
Ministry of External Affairs has released the full 37 page document which covers areas ranging from healthcare to finance.
What are the key highlights of the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration?
The biggest bone of contention among the leaders at G20 was the wording on Russia-Ukraine war. However, the New Delhi Declaration has been able to include the mention of the war. It said, “Today’s era must not be of war.” The leaders also “underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety”.
In the document, the leaders also acknowledged the impact of the war on global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation and growth.
Along with a consensus on Ukraine war, the G20 leaders have also committed to sustainable and balanced growth. The declaration reads, “We commit to accelerate the full and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
On economic growth, the declaration acknowledges the challenges faced by MSMEs. It welcome the Jaipur call for action to help in integration of MSMEs in international trade. The leaders have also committed to strengthen multilateral development banks, which was a key agenda for the Indian presidency.
In the declaration, the countries have also agreed to address the debt vulnerabilities in low and middle income countries in an “effective, comprehensive and systematic manner”.
On gender equality, the declaration said, “The G20 reaffirms that gender equality is of fundamental importance, and that investing in the empowerment of all women and girls, has a multiplier effect in implementing the 2030 Agenda.”
The leaders also condemned all forms of terrorism and committed to meet the needs of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF Style Regional Bodies. The government informed that all 83 paragraphs of the declaration were adopted unanimously.
The theme of India’s G20 presidency was “One Earth. One Family. One Future”. Notably, under India’s presidency, African Union has become a permanent member of the bloc. Since the formation of the bloc in 1999, this is the first time a new member has been added to the grouping.
