NUSA DUA, KOMPAS.com – The G20 leaders agreed on a declaration on Wednesday, Nov. 16, noting most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine as it is causing human suffering and hurting the global economy.
“It is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy,” according to the final statement.
The Group of 20 major economies approved its joint leaders’ declaration containing 52 main points at the end of the two-day summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
“Today, we can adopt and ratify the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration. This is the first declaration that has been realized since February,” G20 Chair Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said in his closing speech at the summit in Nusa Dua.
Also read: Jokowi to G20 Leaders: ‘Stop the War. I Repeat, Stop the War’
Jokowi expressed his appreciation for the flexibility shown by leaders. Of the 20 member countries of the bloc, only Russia was against the declaration, while China and India abstained.
Besides the declaration, the Indonesian G20 Presidency also produced a concrete list of cooperation programs for G20 countries and invitees.
"This cooperation project will help bring the G20 closer to the people, ensuring that the G20 is beneficial not only for its members, but also for the world, and especially for developing countries," State News Antara quoted Jokowi.
‘Very tough’ negotiations
Jokowi said that negotiations for the joint G20 summit declaration were extremely difficult, but hailed the leaders' agreement.
"The discussion was very very tough but eventually the leaders agreed on the content of the declaration which is the condemnation of the war in Ukraine because it has violated the borders, the integrity of the region," he told a closing press conference.
The Indonesian leader said the most debated paragraph in the declaration's text was the one focused on Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Also read: G20 Summit Kicks Off on Indonesian Resort Island of Bali
"Until midnight, we talked about this, and finally the Bali declaration was reached by consensus," he said.
"We agreed that war has an impact on the global economy. The global economy will not be achieved without peace. Therefore, I said, the war must be stopped."
Indonesia’s G20 Presidency officially ended on Wednesday. Jokowi officially handed over the G20 presidency to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of the summit.
(Writer: Danur Lambang Pristiandaru | Editor: Aditya Jaya Iswara)
State News Antara, AFP
