G20 Summit: Modi Unveils Six-Point Agenda, Climate Deal Adopted Amid US Boycott

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The G20 Leaders' Summit in South Africa kicked off in Johannesburg, with world leaders gathering to address pressing global issues. Host President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasized the importance of preserving the Group of 20's integrity and stature, ensuring that the development priorities of the Global South and Africa are represented in the summit's agenda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Johannesburg a day earlier, holding key discussions with global leaders, including a bilateral meeting with Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. Ahead of the summit's final day, Modi unveiled six new G20-led initiatives, focusing on: 1. Countering the Drug-Terror Nexus, with a proposed G20 initiative to tackle the challenge of drug trafficking. 2. Establishing a G20 Global Healthcare Response Team, comprising trained medical professionals from member countries ready for deployment. 3. The G20 Africa-Skills Multiplier Initiative, aimed at facilitating Africa's workforce transformation. 4. A Global Traditional Knowledge Repository, to preserve and promote traditional knowledge. 5. The G20 Open Satellite Data Partnership, promoting the use of satellite data for sustainable development. 6. The G20 Critical Minerals Circularity Initiative, focusing on the responsible use of critical minerals. Despite a US boycott, the G20 summit adopted a declaration addressing the climate crisis and other global challenges. The declaration was drafted without US input, sparking tensions between the US and South Africa. The White House accused President Ramaphosa of undermining the G20's founding principles. The summit also emphasized the need to create a G20 Critical Minerals Framework, promoting sustainable development and inclusive economic growth. The framework aims to ensure that producer countries, particularly in the Global South, can derive maximum benefit from their resources. The G20 declaration highlighted the need to rapidly scale up climate finance, addressing the inequalities in access to energy, particularly in Africa. The leaders also called for increased investments in sustainable energy transition and the development of early warning systems for climate-related disasters. On the sidelines of the summit, Western leaders kept the focus on Ukraine, calling for a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the region. The European leaders issued a statement, expressing their concerns over the US peace plan and vowing to coordinate closely with Ukraine and the US.