I

ndonesia scored a major coup in the two-day G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, with the adoption of a strong statement by leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies on the need to thwart terrorism and stop the flow of funds to militant groups.

In a joint statement issued over the weekend, the G20 leaders said they “stand united and firm in the fight against terrorism and its financing,” and that measures on countering terrorism need to be implemented in accordance with international human rights laws.

The leaders, which included United States President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also agreed on exchanges of information between intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism.

The statement also underlined the need to ensure that there were no safe spaces for terrorist groups in the finance sectors by strengthening the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Indonesia led the way in the discussion on counterterrorism and deradicalization efforts during one of the sessions at this year’s G20 summit and won praise from many leaders for its ability to balance both soft and hard approaches in dealing with the issue.

“Almost everybody praised Indonesia’s efforts, especially in terms of soft power. The President explained both during his statement and in bilateral meetings that military prowess was not enough, but prevention was also important,” Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said during a press conference on the sidelines of the summit.

Retno said that Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and US President Trump were among those who praised Indonesia and Jokowi’s leadership in the region.

A recent Islamic State (IS) movement-linked siege in the neighboring Philippines has put the Southeast Asian region on high alert. To respond to the development, Indonesia took the initiative to form a trilateral alignment with Malaysia and the Philippines to counter the threat of transnational crime in their adjoining waters and also consolidate counterterrorism efforts to address the situation in Marawi, the Philippines.

In his speech on the first day of the summit on Friday, Jokowi maintained that in addition to emphasizing the importance of deradicalization and soft power efforts, countries needed to step up the work of exchanging intelligence information and stopping the flow of funds to radical groups.

He said that the efforts would be even more successful if the world’s top economies worked together.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who accompanied Jokowi during the summit, said that Indonesia appreciated the support from FATF member countries to initiate Indonesia’s membership process even though there were still other countries in line whose membership processes were still underway.

A meeting in July will decide Indonesia’s fate in relation to the FATF.

“We are still discussing the possibility of the PPATK [Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center] as an institutional counterpart. We are a large Muslim country with a pretty developed economy and with people who are highly mobile and connected. If Indonesia is not part of the FATF, they will lose a link,” Sri Mulyani said.

In addition to its stance on counterterrorism efforts, Indonesia also reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change, aligning itself with 19 of the 20 G20 member countries that also declared their commitment in the joint communique. President Trump pulled out of the agreement last month.

“The President once more reaffirmed its [the country’s] commitment to the implementation of the Paris Agreement […] he gave examples such as the moratorium on opening up new fields and the formation of the Peatland Restoration Agency,” Retno said.

Agence France-Presse reported that despite the US position on the Paris Agreement, G20 countries have managed to avoid a total bust-up with Trump over climate change, leaving the door open for Washington to return to the agreement — but at the cost of risky concessions.

The final joint statement after the summit in Hamburg underlined that the 2015 Paris deal is “irreversible,” while “taking note” of Washington’s decision to quit the agreement.

The rest of the G20 made an exceptional concession to the US by letting through a passage in their joint declaration specifically referring to Washington’s position.

It confirms that the US is committed to lowering its emissions, so long as such efforts are compatible with economic growth.