Why G20 'Delhi Declaration' Is "Historic, Pathbreaking"?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s New Delhi Declaration was adopted on the first day of the G20 Summit, with leaders calling it a historic moment that can lead to path-breaking change. PM Modi, who is chairing the G20 sessions, congratulated the Sherpas and ministers who had worked towards forging the consensus.

What is G20 Summit’s New Delhi Declaration?

The New Delhi Declaration was a document floated among the member countries of the G20 Summit, laying emphasis on geopolitical issues such as the Russia-Ukraine war as well as attempts to hammer out a positive outcome to these issues.

Further, the Delhi Declaration placed a bold emphasis on strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth, pertaining to all the member countries. The document touches on issues such as terrorism, the global impact of war, equitable growth for all countries and fair trade.

Key highlights of Delhi Declaration

• The document mentions that all states must 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 declaration mentioned that terrorism constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. All acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever, or by whomever they are committed.
• The document emphasises protecting the vulnerable through promoting equitable growth and enhancing macroeconomic and financial stability.
• The declaration focuses on strong and sustainable growth, accelerating progress on sustainable development goals, a green development pact, and reinvigorating multilateralism.
• The New Delhi Leaders Declaration stated that the G20 member countries are dedicated to promoting unrestricted, open and fair trade in the fields of agriculture, food, and fertilisers, with a commitment to refrain from imposing export restrictions.
• The G-20 nations agree to remain committed to strengthening the global health architecture. Countries will enhance the resilience of health systems and support the development of climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems in collaboration with multilateral development banks (MDBs).
• The New Delhi Leaders' Declaration emphasised the necessity of aligning financial flows with climate objectives while expanding finance, capacity-building, and technology transfer with a focus on the priorities and needs of developing countries.

Why is New Delhi Declaration ‘pathbreaking’?

The document laid emphasis on how countries must refrain from using force to seek territorial acquisition, how nations must crack down on terrorism, and how they must help vulnerable countries and seek equitable growth across all industries.

For example, a consensus has also been reached by the G20 leaders regarding the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. The leaders have decided unanimously that all States must ‘refrain from the threat, or use, of force to seek territorial acquisition’ and also said that the use of nuclear weapons shall be ‘inadmissible’. Even though the Delhi Declaration does not name Russia in connection with the war, it is still a very critical remark of the attack by the country on Ukraine and also signals a climbdown from the Indonesia Declaration last year. The declaration did not condemn Russia for their attack directly, instead, highlighted their ‘deep concern for the immense human suffering and adverse impact of wars and conflicts around the world’.

The adoption of the G20 Summit New Delhi Declaration could turn over a new lead of global relations as sustainable growth and financial stability for all countries, and also pushes for fair and unrestricted trade in the fields of agriculture and food, refraining from imposing heavy export duties.

This means that all the G20 member countries will follow the principles and suggestions laid out in the declaration, leading to continued growth for India and other countries.