12th G20 Summit: Countries pledge to act tough on Terrorism and eliminate Safe Havens

In the 12th G20 Summit held in Hamburg, the leaders of the G20 countries has agreed for taking concrete steps to stop funding of the terror activities. The leaders have also pledged for a joint crackdown on the global scourge of terrorism and check its funding sources.

Salient Highlights

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for united action against terrorism and elimination of terrorist safe havens, the G20 countries strongly condemned all terrorist attacks worldwide and pledged greater coordination to counter the menace. Earlier Prime Minister Modi in the G20 Summit had called for a concerted global crackdown against countries that support terrorism for their own political goals.
The leaders also agreed to facilitate swift action and targeted exchange of information between intelligence, law enforcement and judicial authorities.
The G20 leaders have also called upon the private sector including the communication firms to curb the misuse of the internet for terror propaganda. Further, the leaders have also pledged to ensure terrorists are brought to justice.
Further, the G20 leaders reiterated their resolve to make the international financial system entirely hostile to terrorist financing. The leaders have also called for taking strong measures against the terrorist organisation like ISIS/ISIL/Daesh, Al Qaida etc.

G20

The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for international economic cooperation and decision-making. It is a forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies on economic issues and other important development challenges. It was started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the South-east Asian (Tiger economies) financial crisis. It was established for studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. In 2008, the first G20 Leaders’ Summit was held in Washington DC, US. The group had played a key role in responding to the global financial crisis.
The G20 comprises of total 19 countries plus the European Union (EU), representing 85% of global GDP, 80% of international trade, 65% of world’s population. Its members include Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, India, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, UK, US and EU.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2017