Delhi G20 Declaration On Ukraine: ‘Today’s Era Must Not Be Of War’

New Delhi: There were doubts over consensus being reached among G20 members over a joint communique which is released after every summit.

The Ukraine war was among sticky geo-political issues which had to be handled with care – to be acceptable to Russia, the West and China.

Well, India managed to clinch a ‘100% consensus’ as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Delhi Declaration had been adopted on the very first day of the summit.

So what does the 83-para Delhi Declaration contain on the Russia-Ukraine conflict which satisfied all G20 members?

* The declaration asserted that “today’s era must not be of war,” echoing what Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a conference in Uzbekistan last year.

* The Declaration urged countries to refrain from threatening to use force to seize territories and called for the establishment of a “comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

* The declaration stated that “use or threat of using nuclear weapons is inadmissible,” without mentioning any country like Russia vis-à-vis its invasion of Ukraine.

* The declaration called on all states to uphold principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability.

* The members reaffirmed that G20 is a forum for international economic cooperation, and though the it is not the platform to resolve geopolitical and security issues, G20 leaders acknowledged that these issues can have significant consequences for the global economy.

* The declaration highlighted human suffering and negative added impacts of war with regard to global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation and growth, which have complicated the policy environment for countries, especially developing and least developed countries which are still recovering from COVID-19 pandemic and economic disruption.

* The declaration called for implementation of the Black Sea initiative for safe flow of grain, food and fertiliser from Ukraine and Russia. Moscow had pulled out of the agreement in July.