Today’s era must not be era of war, say G20 leaders in joint declaration

NEW DELHI: Echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s counsel to Russian President Vladimir Putin, G20 leaders said that “today’s era must not be of war” in their joint statement at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Indonesia.

The declaration was released after intense diplomatic wrangling. Reports had surfaced of a deadlock between Western powers on the one hand and Russia and China on the other over the declaration’s language on the Ukraine war.

The final statement was seen as a win for western powers who worked to include language critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the statement.

“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy - constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks,” as per the final version of the leaders’ statement.

The statement also made note of the UN General Assembly vote which “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.”

In a reference to perceived nuclear threats from Russia, the statement also declares that “the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.” It goes on to call on all states to uphold the UN Charter and other tenets of international law.

India is understood to have been a key player in bridging the gulf between the feuding parties. “India played a key role in the successful negotiations of the outcome document,” said foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra during a press briefing. New Delhi’s efforts were “aimed at consensus building across the whole range of issues which were negotiated in the outcome document”.

“Naturally, the document was being negotiated in a particular global context and that context did find a mention in the outcome document”, said Foreign Secretary Kwatra in an allusion to the declaration’s focus on the Ukraine war.

The leaders’ declaration also deal with questions of food security, the ongoing energy crisis and efforts to combat climate change.