Goemkarponn Desk
DELHI: The G20 admitted a new permanent member at its New Delhi Summit today: the African Union. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the two-day event, talking about human-centric development and the need to lessen the trust deficit in global supply chains, which came about as a result of the Covid-19 induced pandemic.
He also assured all possible assistance to Morocco, where an earthquake took hundreds of lives this morning. At the Summit, Modi’s country card reads ‘Bharat’.
Modi earlier welcomed world leaders and foreign delegates as they arrived at New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam for the Summit.
The Summit began today, amid divisions in the grouping over the Russia-Ukraine war and China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific and the South China Sea. World leaders including US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Japan PM Fumio Kishida, Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reached the national capital on Friday (September 8).
Welcoming world leaders and foreign delegates who will be attending the Summit, President Droupadi Murmu said, “India’s G20 Presidency theme, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – One Earth, One Family, One Future’, is a global roadmap for sustainable, inclusive, and human-centric development. I wish the participants of G20 Summit every success in their efforts towards realising this vision.”
This June, India pitched for the inclusion of African Union, which represents 55 countries, in the G20, a move that has finally paid off.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to the G20 leaders, proposing that AU be given “full membership at the upcoming Delhi Summit of G20, as requested by them”.
Today, at the inaugural session of the G20 Summit 2023, Modi announced the inclusion of AU in the grouping.
This marks a significant step ahead for India’s engagement with the continent, where China has had a head-start. It also falls in line with Modi’s emphasis on India becoming the leading voice of the Global South. Moreover, this move is in sync with India’s ambition to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, for which AU’s support could be crucial.
