The G20 Summit leaders’ declaration gave a big boost and diplomatic mileage to India in its relentless fight against terrorism. The joint declaration condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. World leaders refuted terrorism with a clear zeal and resolved to eradicate the terror menace to ensure global peace and security. The leaders of the world’s major economies reaffirmed that there cannot be any distinction between “good” and “bad” terrorism. Terrorism in all forms and manifestation is a threat to the globe and it has to be outrightly uprooted.
G20 South Africa Summit: Leaders’ Declaration | We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations
We meet against the backdrop of rising geopolitical and geo-economic competition and instability, heightened conflicts and wars, deepening inequality, increasing global… pic.twitter.com/yOgBLx5ArE
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Strong advocacy to scale climate finance
Apart from the strong statement against terrorism, the G20 South Africa Summit: Leaders’ Declaration, was built on the agenda founded during the New Delhi Summit of the G20 in 2023. South Africa continued to work on the principles instilled by India which includes addressing the climate crisis, ensuring equitable climate finance mechanisms and ensuring the prosperity of the Global South. The declaration was unanimously adopted by all the G20 member states. Another striking aspect of the Summit was, the leaders’ declaration was adopted at the beginning of the summit, unlike the usual practice of adopting it by the end of the summit.
The G20 leaders’ declaration particularly has ambitious assertions towards climate finance as the countries of Africa and the Global South are specifically vulnerable to the spiking climate catastrophes. The declaration reiterated that climate finance has to be drastically scaled up to fulfill the goals of the Paris Agreement. Developing countries will need a massive USD 5.9 trillion to achieve their Nationally Determined Goals(NDGs) prior to 2030, the declaration exclaimed.
Along with climate finance, the G20 club member-states also championed to upscale capacity-building, technology transfer in order to successfully counter the rising climate hurdles. South Africa, as the chair of the G20 summit, made a strong commitment to strengthen the disaster response mechanisms, thereby reinvigorating climate resilience especially for the developing countries who are most vulnerable to the unpredictable climate change. The disaster risk reduction working group initiated during the G20 presidency of New Delhi was again reinforced in the current South Africa summit.
With respect to countering climate risks, the South Africa joint leaders’ declaration also highlighted the role of Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure(CDRI), a joint initiative of India and France.
Harnessing the potential of the digital public infrastructure
The G20 Johannesburg leaders’ declaration also highlighted the importance of nurturing a solid digital public infrastructure ecosystem. This was also indeed the continuation of the aspect initiated by India during the G20 New Delhi summit. India is also set to host the global AI Impact Summit in 2026. As a prelude to this, the Johannesburg G20 declaration asserted the importance for developing a safe, secure, transparent and inclusive AI ecosystem.
A call to reform the UNSC and the WTO
Meanwhile, the G20 summit also called for the reform of the United Nations Security Council(UNSC) to make it more inclusive and representative that suits the dynamics of the current world order. The declaration expressed that the UNSC has to be more democratic, accountable, effective and efficient to accommodate the needs and concerns of the 21st century. The reformed security council should have “underrepresented and unrepresented” economies as its permanent members which includes the nations of Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, the declaration added.
The G20 leaders’ declaration also emphasised on the need to reform the World Trade Organisation(WTO) to address the trade needs of the decade. The leaders advocated for a free, fair, open, inclusive and multilateral trading system. This issue seeks prominence in the backdrop of the trade and tariff tussle unleashed by the US President Donald Trump. The declaration asserted that WTO should be more dynamic and functional to address the ongoing trade concerns and should work to facilitate the ease-of-doing business.
G20 sends strong strategic message to Trump as US boycotts the Summit
The G20 Summit in South Africa went ahead with full rigour and the leaders’ declaration was adopted unanimously despite the boycott of the Summit by the US President Donald Trump and his entire American delegation. The US had refused to attend the summit at any level due to a rift with the host country South Africa, where Trump alleged that White Afrikaners in South Africa were ill-treated and murdered. As a symbol of protest against the Government of South Africa, Trump had refuted the summit.
President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa asserted that the US objected to the wordings mentioned in the G20 leaders’ declaration. However, he said that it cannot be “renegotiated”. The South African President also affirmed that there is “overwhelming consensus and agreement for the declaration”, which is unanimously adopted by the members.
This indeed sends a strong strategic signal to the US, that the world works even devoid of the ultimate consensus and acceptance of the Trump administration in the United States. The officials of South Africa said that Trump had actually put pressure on the host country to not adopt the leaders’ declaration in his absence.
However, the member-states of the G20 club with a solid resolve adopted the joint declaration, thus sending a strong strategic signal to the US and upholding the multilateral, sovereign and democratic nature of the geopolitical landscape which is beyond any unilateral hegemonic compulsions.
PM Modi pitches 6 proposals for global prosperity
Speaking at the G20 Johannesburg Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has articulated six visionary proposals for the sake of global security and prosperity. This includes, creating a global traditional knowledge repository on lines with Indian Knowledge System(IKS) initiative. This will help to preserve and treasure the traditional knowledge ecosystem for the welfare of the future generations.
The second proposal refers to harnessing the skill multiplier initiative for the African continent. It aims to create one million certified trainers in Africa over the next decade for the sake of long-term development and growth of the continent. The third proposal is to create a global healthcare response team, where the medical professionals are trained and equipped to tackle any medical emergencies and unforeseen contingencies such as the pandemic.
The fourth proposal is to unleash a G-20 mechanism to counter drug and terror menace, in a coordinated global effort. Aims to pool financial, governance and other security tools to eradicate the poisonous network of terrorism and drug trafficking.
The fifth proposal is to foster open satellite data partnership. This aims to expand the satellite data and make it more accessible among the G20 member states. Enhance interoperability and utility especially for the members of the Global South, thus help in the growth of the science and technology ecosystem.
The sixth and the final proposal is to develop a sound critical mineral ecosystem. The G20 critical minerals circularity initiative aims to build supply chain resilience in the domain of critical minerals and seek self-reliance in mining, thus reducing dependency and countering the monopolistic ambitions.
In this direction, Prime Minister Modi advocated for joint research, upgrading technology standards and pilot recycling facilities in the Global South. It also includes plans to promote innovative measures in the critical minerals sector such as urban mining, battery recycling to deliver environmental benefits and support other sustainable practices.
The G20 Johannesburg, thus was a platform to pursue the ideals invigorated in the 2023 New Delhi summit. Higher prominence was asserted to the aspirations of the Global South countries. From climate resilience to seeking self-reliance in the critical mineral chain, from resounding the need for UNSC and WTO reforms to sending a stern message to the US, G20 Summit in South Africa emerged as a bench to pitch the voice for multilateralism, inclusivity and strategic autonomy.
