New Delhi, Sep 09, 2023, Special Correspondent

New Delhi, Sep 9: The powerful G20 grouping under India's presidency on Saturday condemned terrorism in all its forms and called for strengthening of efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of operations as well as financial, material or political support.

The Declaration, the adoption of which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the start of the second session of the G20 Leaders' Summit, said all acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. They also committed to support the increasing resource needs of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF-style regional bodies.

"We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including those on the basis of xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief, recognising the commitment of all religions to peace. It constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security," the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration said.

The G20 leaders strongly condemned all terrorist acts against critical infrastructure, including critical energy facilities, and against other vulnerable targets. Effective counterterrorism measures, support for the victims of terrorism and the protection of human rights are not conflicting goals, but complementary and mutually reinforcing, the leaders said.

"A holistic approach on the basis of international law can effectively counter terrorism. Efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation should be strengthened to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of operations, movement and recruitment, as well as financial, material or political support," the Declaration said.

"We also express concern about illicit trafficking and diversion of small arms and light weapons. International cooperation among states is critical to combat these phenomena, including export, import controls, and tracing," it said.

Addressing a press briefing on the G20 Summit outcomes, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the G20 leaders also addressed the subject of countering terrorism and money laundering. The leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and recognised that it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, he said.

In the Declaration, the G20 leaders committed to support the increasing resource needs of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF Style Regional Bodies and encourage others to do the same, including for the next round of mutual evaluations. "We remain committed to the timely and global implementation of the revised FATF Standards on the transparency of beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements to make it more difficult for criminals to hide and launder ill-gotten gains," the G20 Declaration said.

"We welcome the ongoing work of the FATF to enhance global efforts to recover criminal proceeds, in particular, the progress made by the FATF towards revising its standards on asset recovery and reinforcing global asset recovery networks," it said.

The G20 member states also reiterated the importance of countries developing and implementing effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks to mitigate risks associated with virtual assets in line with FATF Standards, especially for terrorism financing, money laundering, and proliferation financing risks.

"In this regard, we support the FATF's initiative to accelerate the global implementation of its standards, including the 'travel rule', and its work on risks of emerging technologies and innovations, including decentralised finance (DeFi) arrangements and peer-to-peer transactions," the Declaration said.