The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, yesterday, announced the inclusion of African Union, AU, as a permanent member of G-20.
Modi, who made the announcement during his opening speech at the G-20 summit, urged African leaders to proffer long-term solutions to the global economy.
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Modi, who banged his gavel three times before the announcement, shook hands with the current AU chair, President Azali Assoumani of Comoros, invited him to sit at the table.
He said: “I invite the representative of the African Union to take his place as a permanent member of the G-20.”
Modi told leaders that they must find “concrete solutions” to the widespread challenges that arose from the “ups and downs in the global economy; the North and the South divide; and the chasm between the East and the West.”
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu, in New Delhi, India, expressed Nigeria’s commitment to playing a major role in G-20, urging leaders across the world to unite in fostering inclusiveness and establishing an impartial world order.
Tinubu, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, said: “Stronger collaboration cooperation, and partnerships among diverse regions are the pathways to a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable future for our world. This is why the role and contributions of the G-20 in shaping a new world order that is fair and rules-based can not be over-emphasised.
“A world that lives as one family, but is divided by staggering income inequalities and uneven access to basic social goods by the vast majority of our people cannot result in a peaceful and secure world where shared prosperity is achieved.”
“I hasten to add that such rules and global governance structures of our collective dreams must be collectively designed, collectively owned, and collectively managed. This is consistent with the true spirit of One Family, mutual respect, and sustainable development. Nigeria is poised, able and willing to be a major player in this family of the G-20 and in shaping a new world, without whom, the family will remain incomplete.”