Only effective coordination can eliminate IS

In fact, almost every member of the loose anti-IS "alliance" has its own concerns. Washington wants to remain the leader of the coalition, but wants to refrain from getting directly involved in any open conflicts in the Middle East again. The European Union, too, has its own concerns, burdened as it is by the ongoing Greek debt crisis and the influx of asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa. Even the major players in the region such as Saudi Arabia are distracted by a host of challenges at home and abroad.

But despite all this, there is no reason for the international community to sit idle while the IS militants exploit the loopholes in global coordination against terrorism.

In this context, the G20 summit is a good opportunity for all relevant countries to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against terrorism. As for strategy, they should increase the air strikes on the IS group, so as to prevent it from making easy inroads into Syria and Iraq. Of course, US and Russian air strikes have succeeded, to some extent, in curbing the expansion of the IS group, but countries need to send ground forces to sustain the anti-terrorism fight.

Cutting off the IS financial supply routes, as the UN Security Council urged in February, can also deal a major blow to its survival. But this is not easy, for it requires more concerted transnational efforts because, unlike traditional terrorist groups, the IS has a variety of channels across the globe, online and offline both, to raise funds.

Intelligence sharing is another major area that countries fighting the IS have to strengthen. And all G20 members must realize that the fight against the IS group is not one country's responsibility and, hence, they should all exchange information on the terrorist group in a timely manner, regardless of the alliance they belong to. In this regard, the EU's decision in January to expedite the exchange of information with Middle East countries and the Baghdad-based anti-IS information center founded by Russia, Syria, Iran and Iraq in September are a promising start.

The author is a professor at the International Politics Department of the University of International Relations in Beijing.