G20 united against war as world leaders in India decries 'use of force' in Ukraine

The statement referencing the “war in Ukraine” said that “all states” should “refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state”.

The summit, opened by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also unveiled ambitious plans to create a modern-day Spice Route linking Europe, the Middle East and India, boosting trade ties with potentially wide-ranging geopolitical implications. Modi, the G20 host, credit the consensus to his “team’s hard work.”

“With your support, there is a consensus on the New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Summit declaration,” he said, announcing the adoption of the declaration, banging a ceremonial gavel. Details of the joint communique are yet to be released.

Following which, the leaders and diplomat of the grouping expressed condolences and support for Morocco a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that hit late Friday killed at least 632 people and injured 329 others, including 51 in critical condition.

In his opening speech, Modi said he was “extremely pained by the loss of lives due to an earthquake in Morocco”.

The summit statement was later welcomed by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. He told reporters: “From our perspective, it does a very good job.”

It reinforced the principles that states could not use force for territorial gain, that using nuclear weapons was “inadmissible”, and that “a just peace must be based on the principles of the UN Charter, including the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity”, he said.

“Attacks on civilian infrastructure, including grid infrastructure, must halt,” Sullivan added. The two-day summit opened by Modi as PM of Bharat has highlighted that the world today was suffering a “crisis of trust”.

“War has made this trust deficit deeper. If we can defeat Covid, we can also conquer this mutual trust crisis.” Further, the summit yesterday witnessed the African Union formally taking its seat as the newest member of the G20 Saturday at the invitation of Modi. “India put a proposal to give permanent membership of G20 to the African Union.

I believe that with we have everyone’s agreement on this,” Modi said in his opening address to the summit. “With everyone’s approval, I request the African Union head to take his seat as a permanent G20 member,” he added, banging a ceremonial gavel.

Before Saturday, the G20 comprised 19 countries and the European Union, with South Africa its only member state from the continent.

The African Union at full strength has 55 members but six junta-ruled nations are currently suspended.

It has a collective GDP of $3 trillion with some 1.4 billion people. The African Union’s entry to the G20 on Saturday was welcomed by leaders across Africa who said the move would give the continent a “voice”. South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was “delighted” by the move.

For the first time the G20 backed a target of tripling global renewable energy capacity and referenced the need for emissions to peak before 2025.