New Delhi: As India’s G20 presidency concluded Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted once again that “terrorism and the senseless killings of civilians” were unacceptable and must be tackled with “a policy of zero tolerance”, in an apparent reference to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East.
In an article in The Indian Express, Modi said people “must embody humanitarianism over hostility and reiterate that this is not an era of war”.
Modi had first said this to Russian President Vladimir Putin last September following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stressing the need for dialogue and diplomacy to keep the world together.
Examining India’s year as chair of the G20 forum, Modi wrote that global conversation had to evolve – “the interests of the few had to give way to the aspirations of the many” – and highlighted New Delhi’s focus on making the intergovernmental forum “inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented, and decisive”.
“Inclusivity has been at the heart of our presidency. The inclusion of the African Union (AU) as a permanent member of the G20 integrated 55 African nations into the forum, expanding it to encompass 80 per cent of the global population,” he wrote.
“This proactive stance has fostered a more comprehensive dialogue on global challenges and opportunities,” he added.
Modi touched upon the various initiatives introduced by India under the theme “One Earth, One Family, One Future”, like the Voice of the Global South Summit, Global Biofuels Alliance, Green Development Pact and the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor.
The Prime Minister also reiterated New Delhi’s calls for reform within global institutions, like the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). “… India is taking a leading role in UN reforms, especially in the restructuring of principal organs like the UN Security Council, that will ensure a more equitable global order,” he wrote.
Highlighting key issues adopted in the leaders’ declaration in September, from gender equality to climate justice, Modi said this was “testimony to our commitment to deliver on these principles”.
“It is a matter of pride that during our presidency, G20 achieved 87 outcomes and 118 adopted documents, a marked rise from the past,” he added.
A crucial point of contention in the numerous working and ministerial meetings during India’s G20 Presidency had been the Russia-Ukraine war.
Most of the 220 meetings across 60 cities, therefore, did not result in a joint communique due to disagreements over paragraphs on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and instead yielded a chair’s summary and an outcome document.
The New Delhi Leader’s Summit, however, was the only meeting that produced a joint communique.
Unlike in the Bali Declaration last year, the Delhi statement did not use words like “condemn” or “aggression” to refer to the Russia-Ukraine war. It instead called 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”.
It further spoke of the “human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine”, while underscoring the G20’s efforts to bring in “durable peace”.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Carbon trading to climate fund negotiations — what to expect from COP28 in Dubai