G20 Summit sherpa Amitabh Kant, center, addresses a press conference at the International Media Center ahead of the summit in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023.
Dar Yasin/AP
NEW DELHI — The African Union has been granted permanent member status in the Group of 20 top world economies, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday, adding momentum to his drive to give a greater voice to the Global South as host of this year’s annual summit.
Modi addressed the delegates from behind a nameplate that listed his country not as India but as “Bharat,” an ancient Sanskrit name championed by his Hindu nationalist supporters.
The announcement came as Modi opened the weekend summit of the G20, one that comes as growing global rifts and the absence of key players threatened to make reaching consensus on the thorniest issues elusive.
There was widespread support, however, for adding the AU to the G20, making it the second regional bloc to become a permanent member after the European Union.
Modi rapped his gavel three times before announcing the move to applause in the room.
He shook hands with the current AU chair, Comoros President Azali Assoumani, and embraced him warmly before inviting him to sit at the table.
“I invite the representative of the African Union to take his place as a permanent member of the G20,” Modi said.
Modi has made giving voice to the Global South a centerpiece of this year’s summit, and adding the AU at the outset was a strong step in that direction.
With much of the world’s focus on the Russian war against Ukraine, India has been working to try and direct more attention to addressing the…
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