MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

African Union joins G20, Modi announces

This year's summit is being touted as the grandest diplomatic event in India since the ceremonial cremation of slain Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Saturday on the opening day of the G20 Summit that the African Union (AU) had been granted permanent member status in the group of top world economies. The AU thus becomes the second regional bloc to become a permanent member after the European Union (EU).

Modi also pointed out that the AU's accession would give a greater voice to the Global South. Modi rapped his gavel three times before announcing the move to applause in the room and shook hands with current AU Chairman Azali Assoumani, the president of Comoros. “I invite the representative of the African Union to take his place as a permanent member of the G20,” Modi said.

“Friends, after COVID-19, the world is facing problems of trust deficit,” Modi also said. “The war has further deepened this trust deficit. If we can beat COVID, we can also triumph over the trust deficit caused by the war,” he added.

As the summit opened, many G20 heads were not expected in New Delhi, most notably Presidents Xi Jinping (China), Vladimir Putin (Russia), Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Mexico) and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. In addition, preparatory meetings failed to produce agreements largely due to differences over Ukraine.

“Once again, Vladimir Putin is failing to show his face at the G20,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “He is the architect of his own diplomatic exile, isolating himself in his presidential palace and blocking out criticism and reality.”

“The rest of the G20, meanwhile, are demonstrating that we will turn up and work together to pick up the pieces of Putin's destruction,” Sunak added.

The summit takes place just days after Putin said a landmark deal allowing Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea will not be restored until Western nations meet his demands on Russia's own agricultural exports. The original deal had been brokered by the U.N. and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but Russia refused to extend it in July, complaining that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn't been honored.

Sunak said he hoped to marshal international resources to counteract the impact of Russia's moves on the global food supply and announced a global food security summit in London in November in response to Moscow's actions.

He also said Royal Air Force aircraft will fly over the Black Sea as part of efforts to deter Russia from striking cargo ships transporting grain from Ukraine to developing countries.

India, which has not condemned Russia for the war, and in fact benefitted by importing discounted Russian oil – has argued that the G20 forum will permit discussions on important issues.

Other major topics on the agenda were issues critical to developing nations, including alternative fuels like hydrogen, resource efficiency, developing a common framework for digital public infrastructure, and food security. The attendees were also expected to address reforming the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to help make funds more accessible for lower- and middle-income nations.

This year's summit is being touted as the grandest diplomatic event in India since the ceremonial cremation of slain Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, which drew leaders from 100 nations to New Delhi.