Before his opening speech at the first session of the G20 leaders’ summit in New Delhi, Modi greeted African Union chair and Comoros President Azali Assoumani with a warm hug.
"India's G20 presidency has become a symbol of inclusion, of 'sabka saath' both inside and outside the country. This has become people's G20 in India. Crores of Indians are connected to this. In more than 60 cities of the country, more than 200 meetings have taken place. With the sense of 'Sabka Saath', India had proposed that the African Union be granted permanent membership of G20. I believe that all of us agree to this proposal," Modi was quoted as saying by the ANI news agency.
After Modi’s remarks, Chairperson of the African Union Azali Assoumani took a seat among other G20 permanent members.
In June, Modi wrote a letter to G20 leaders proposing that the African Union be given full membership of the group.
India has been chairing the G20 since December 1, 2022. The top-level summit in New Delhi from Saturday to Sunday gathered the 20 member states as well as nine other states, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Spain, Maurituis, Nigeria, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Singapore. Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and China by Premier Li Qiang.