G20 vows joint action against terrorism

Antalya, Nov 16: In its first communique on a political issue, leaders of the world's richest and most powerful countries (G20), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today vowed to conduct joint action against growing global terrorism as well as choking terror financing channels.

The Antalya Summit is the first time the G-20 engaged in issues other than the economy and trade as world leaders released a statement denouncing the Paris attacks while vowing unity against terrorism.

A dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on "Global Challenges: Terrorism and Migration" formed the basis for the statement.

Modi at the dinner had stated that some countries still use terror as "an instrument of state policy" and need to be isolated while terror financing should be criminalised.

"We don't have a comprehensive global strategy to combat terrorism. And, we tend to be selective in using the instruments that we have," he said, adding that it was more important than what we face is how we respond to the threat.

The joint statement, issued at the end of the two-day G20 Summit, underlined that leaders reaffirmed that terrorism cannot be associated with any religion, nationality or ethnic group.

G20 leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, denounced the Paris attacks as "heinous" and reiterated that they would remain united in combating terrorism.

Expressing concerns over the growing flow of foreign terrorist fighters, G20 leaders demanded stepped-up border control and aviation security.

They stressed on remaining committed to tackling financing channels of terrorism by enhanced cooperation on the exchange of information and by freezing the assets of terrorists.

PTI