The G20 adopted the New Delhi Leaders Summit Declaration on Saturday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that consensus had been reached among member states, marking a major breakthrough in the meeting of the most powerful nations in the world.

 “I have received good news. Due to the hard work of our team, consensus has been built on New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Summit Declaration. My proposal is to adopt this leadership declaration. I announce to adopt this declaration. On this occasion, I congratulate my Sherpa, ministers, who worked hard for it and made it possible,” said PM Modi while addressing the second session of the Summit at the Bharat Mandapam.

India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant dubbed the declaration historic and path-breaking and said there was 100% consensus on all developmental and geopolitical issues. The reference to geopolitics is especially important given the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"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 today's world. Demonstrates PM @narendramodi leadership in today's world (sic)," Mr Kant posted on X. 

The Joint Communiqué or the New Delhi Leaders Declaration issued at the G20 has 112 outcomes and presidency documents, which is double the work done by the previous presidencies. The G20 Declaration had the full consensus of the participating members on all developmental and geo-political issues. 

Stressing that “today’s era must not be of war”, the New Delhi Declaration of G20 countries on Saturday called on all states to uphold the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty, and said that peaceful resolution of conflicts as well as diplomacy, and dialogue are critical in the new world order.

The declaration places emphasis on strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth, seeks to accelerate progress on SDGs, envisages a green development pact for a sustainable future, and endorses high-level principles on lifestyle for sustainable development.

It also reiterated PM Modi’s statement that “Today’s era must not be of war” and called on states to uphold the principles of international law, sovereignty, and international humanitarian law.

The proclamation stated that one of the gravest challenges to global peace and security is terrorism. Regardless of the cause, wherever, whenever, or by whomever they are done, all acts of terrorism are illegal and immoral.

The G20 leaders reaffirmed that the G20 is the leading forum for international economic cooperation and emphasized that, while not the forum to address geopolitical and security challenges, these issues can have a substantial impact on the world economy.

“We highlighted the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation, and growth, which has complicated the policy environment for countries, especially developing and least developed countries which are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic disruption which has derailed progress towards the SDGs. There were different views and assessments of the situation,” it underlined.

The declaration further said, “We appreciate the efforts of Turkiye and UN-brokered Istanbul Agreements consisting of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Federation and the Secretariat of the United Nations on Promoting Russian Food Products and Fertilizers to the World Markets and the Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports (Black Sea Initiative).”

It demanded that they be fully, promptly, and effectively implemented in order to guarantee the immediate and unhindered delivery of grain, foodstuffs, and fertilizers/inputs from the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

“This is necessary to meet the demand in developing and least developed countries, particularly those in Africa,” it added.

Emphasizing the importance of sustaining food and energy security, the G20 leaders called for the “cessation of military destruction or other attacks on relevant infrastructure”.

“We call on all states to uphold the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability. The peaceful resolution of conflicts and efforts to address crises as well as diplomacy and dialogue are critical,” it said.

The New Delhi Leaders' Declaration emphasized the necessity of aligning financial flows with climate objectives while expanding finance, capacity-building, and technology transfer with a focus on the priorities and needs of developing countries.

India’s G20 Presidency will go down in history as one of the most inclusive, culturally vibrant as well as goal-oriented events that have taken place so far. The full membership of the African Union is among the most tangible outcomes of the summit.

The event helped in showcasing India’s push for development, ensuring ease of living through the use of technology and bringing peace to all parts of India. The G20 leaders said they would back efforts to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, promising to boost action to tackle climate change.

Image source: X