On invitation from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the African Union officially joined the G20 on Saturday.
Modi, who will face national elections the next year and has utilized the hosting rights for this year’s summit to enhance his reputation as an international statesman, has scored a significant diplomatic triumph with the bloc’s enlargement.
Azali Assoumani, the president of the Comoros and the chair of the African Union, was hugged by Modi prior to his opening remarks.
“India put a proposal to give permanent membership of G20 to the African Union. I believe that with we have everyone’s agreement on this,” Modi said in his opening address to the summit.
“With everyone’s approval, I request the African Union head to take his seat as a permanent G20 member,” he added, banging a ceremonial gavel.
Assoumani then took his seat among world leaders at the invitation of India’s foreign affairs minister S. Jaishankar.
Finding consensus among members has been increasingly difficult in recent years with deep divisions on the Ukraine war.
“The world has a huge crisis of trust,” Modi said in his opening remarks.
“War has made this trust deficit deeper. If we can defeat Covid, we can also conquer this mutual trust crisis.”
