Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the US Congress that he believes the African Union must become a full member of the Group of Twenty (G20) nations to give the Global South a voice in international affairs.
"Giving a voice to the Global South is the way forward. That is why I firmly believe that the African Union [should] be given full membership in the G20," Modi said on Thursday.
The Indian prime minister also said the world must revive multilateralism and multilateral institutions by improving representation and contributing more resources, especially to the United Nations.
"When the world has changed, our [multilateral] institutions too must change or risk getting replaced by a world of rivalries without rules," Modi said.
Earlier in March, during a visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow, Russia and China expressed their support for the African Union's accession to the G20 to give emerging market economies and developing countries "greater voice" in the international arena.
"The parties are determined to strengthen coordination within the G20 and other multilateral mechanisms ... to improve global economic governance in a fair and rational manner so that it better reflects the structure of the world economy, which includes increasing representation and giving greater voice to emerging market economies and developing countries. The parties support the accession of the African Union to the G20," a joint statement published by the Kremlin read.