Modi says G20 must fight ‘drug-terror economy’

By Levy Masiteng 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday told G20 leaders to mount a united offensive against the global “drug-terror economy”, warning that synthetic drugs such as fentanyl were fuelling terrorism and undermining security.

Addressing the opening session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, Modi proposed a dedicated G20 Initiative on Countering the “drug–terror nexus,” saying it should combine financial, governance and security tools to disrupt trafficking networks and choke illicit cash flows.

Modi said drug trafficking was a “serious challenge to global security” and a major source of terrorist financing.

He called for coordinated action against “extremely dangerous substances like fentanyl,” declaring, “Let us weaken the wretched drug-terror economy!”

The anti-drug drive was part of a four-part package Modi put to G20 leaders.

Alongside the drugs proposal, he called for a G20 Global Healthcare Response Team to be created from medical experts across member states, ready