In a big win for India’s G20 Presidency, a consensus was reached among member nations and the Delhi Declaration was adopted at the mega Summit. Under India’s Presidency, African Union became a full member of the G20, which is a historic decision reflecting India’s commitment towards Global South. Another landmark decision of the day, was the signing of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. India, US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union Commission signed an MoU to establish the corridor. PM Modi hailed it in his message on the social media site X, “Charting a journey of shared aspirations and dreams, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor promises to be a beacon of cooperation, innovation, and shared progress. As history unfolds, may this corridor be a testament to human endeavour and unity across continents”.
This is a unique initiative for cooperation on connectivity and infrastructure involving India, Middle East and Europe. This aims to reshape the geo-strategy and geo-economics of the region and it counters China’s Belt and Road Initiative but without binding nations in the debt trap. The corridor will provide impetus to economic development through economic integration between Asia, Middle East and Europe. This corridor will connect India with West Asia, Europe and the US as an alternative to India‘s INSTC with Iran and Russia. The landmark MoU has India as an architect and a strong pillar and it has the foresightedness of PM Modi.
The Economic Corridor will consist of two separate corridors: East corridor connecting India to West Asia /Middle East and Northern corridor connecting West Asia / Middle East to Europe. It will include a rail line will provide a reliable and cost effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network enhancing transshipment of goods and services between SouthEast Asia through India to Middle East and Europe.
At the G20 summit, the New Delhi Leaders’ Summit Declaration was adopted on Saturday in a massive breakthrough as members of the G20 arrived at a “100 percent consensus” on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra made the big announcement which the government described as “historic and pathbreaking”.
PM Modi announcing the Declaration, tweeted, “History has been created with the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration. United in consensus and spirit, we pledge to work collaboratively for a better, more prosperous, and harmonious future. My gratitude to all fellow G20 members for their support and cooperation.
It was India’s deft diplomacy that a consensus was arrived at regarding the Declaration. Another historic decision taken at the Summit was that the African Union formally took its seat as a new member of the G20 at the invitation of summit host and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This reflected PM Modi’s commitment towards Global South, which has been the core of India’s G20 presidency and fits in tune with Delhi’s theme of One Earth, One Family, One Future. Africa got its rightful place at the high table through India’s sustained diplomatic efforts.
It was not easy to come to an understanding on the Declaration but India managed to bring everybody on the same page seen as a huge success of its presidency. India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said that the New Delhi Declaration – running into 38 paragraphs, was adopted with “100 percent consensus on all developmental and geo-political issues”.
“The New Delhi Leaders Declaration has been officially adopted at the G20 India Leaders’ Summit! Today’s era must be marked as the golden age of human-centric globalisation and India’s G20 Presidency under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi has worked tirelessly towards this goal,” Kant tweeted.
Hammering out a consensus on the “geopolitical paras” – a reference to the wording of the Ukraine crisis which had been a major sticking point – demonstrated Prime Minister Modi’s leadership in today’s world”, Kant added.
This effectively made G20 India “the most ambitious in the history of G20 presidencies”, the top official said. It was also said that the New Delhi Leaders Declaration had a “huge India narrative, huge India footprint”.
Earlier during the Summit, PM Modi called for bridging the “global trust deficit” that had been deepened further by the war in Ukraine, as India proposed a new text on the Ukraine crisis to break the deadlock over the Delhi Declaration.
