G20 Declaration Adopted Despite US Opposition

Johannesburg, Nov 22 (PTI) The heads of state attending the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg on Saturday adopted a Declaration by consensus despite US attempts to stop it.

“It is a great moment for us because we believe that this will revolutionise the (African) continent,” South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said on host broadcaster SABC, calling the Declaration as “an affirmation of multilateralism.”

Generally, the adoption of the Declaration happens at the end of the Leaders' Summit. This time it happened at the start of the meet.

“The Declaration has been negotiated and agreed upon by the Sherpas that needed to agree on (it). The various leaders who are here have been briefed by their Sherpas on what is in the Declaration, so there was nothing that stops us from putting the Declaration forward for adoption by the leaders who are in the first segment of this (two-day) meeting,” Lamola said about the unusual step of adopting the Declaration early in the start of the meeting.

“We are thrilled that they agreed to do it. It contains a number of revolutionary aspects for the African continent and the world,” he said.

Asked about the US' stance on not participating and trying to stop the declaration in its absence, Lamola expanded on his earlier remarks that the G20 would continue with or without the US.

“The G20 cannot be paralysed on the basis of the absence of someone who was invited. The multilateral platform must function. It has served good since the second World War, so that is the message that South Africa was sending across in all the engagements to say we have to move with the Declaration.

“We have to ensure that the Declaration becomes a success and the whole world is here. They have agreed that that is the way to go. It is now a platform for cooperation where all the leaders of the world are saying this is where the world must go. Cooperation is the only way. This is an affirmation of multilateralism,” Lamola said.

“This G20 is not about the US. It is about all the 21 members of the G20. We are all equal members of the G20. What it means is that we need to take a decision. Those of us who are here have decided this is where the world must go and that is what is going to happen,” Lamola said when asked about how this would affect bilateral relations with the US.

“With regard to our bilateral relations with the US, the Department of Trade and Industry is continuing with their engagements and we look forward to finding a positive resolution. But the reality is that the South African government has acted responsibly with regard to the US,” he said.

Lamola added that South Africa would not act “recklessly from the beginning or at any stage” because it knows that the US is the world's largest economy and South Africa's second largest trading partner.

“So, there is no way you can deal with the economy without the US,” he said. “But there must be a point where we are able to stand firm even when we are being diplomatically correct.”

Lamola was commenting on claims by Trump that there was genocide of white farmers in South Africa.

“We have been clear that there is no genocide in South Africa. South Africa has got its challenges. Crime affects everyone,” he said.

Lamola said almost all the issues that South Africa wanted to include in the Declaration were there, including the issue of debt sustainability. Especially with countries with the same risk level paying more interest on debt.

“It was not a walk in the park though,” Lamola conceded.

“There had been some of the issues that had to be changed or amended. It's the nature of negotiations. You end up with some and you lose some,” Lamola said.