Indian Prime Minister Modi Requests G20 Nations To Give African Union Full Membership

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to G20 leaders, urging them to allow the African Union to attain full membership in the forum.

Ahead of the upcoming G20 summit, which is scheduled in New Delhi in September, the Prime Minister of India requested all G20 members to consider giving the African Union full and permanent membership.

G20 (Group of Twenty) is an international economic cooperation forum that helps to strengthen and shape all major international economic issues.

Prime Minister Modi wrote this letter in order to enhance Africa's voice on the international stage and to help them shape the future of the "shared world," an Indian official told Reuters.

"This will be a right step towards a just, fair, more inclusive and representative global architecture and governance," the official added. "(The) prime minister is a strong believer in having a greater voice of the Global South countries on international platforms, particularly of African countries."

The official went on to explain that Prime Minister's focus is on adding African countries' priorities to the G20 agenda.

The current members comprise 19 countries - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, United Kingdom and the United States - and the European Union.

"The G20 members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population," as per the official website of G20.

Considering Africa in G20, it is not represented as a single entity. Instead, South Africa represents African interests in front of the panel. However, if G20 approves the Indian Prime Minister's request then countries like Nigeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Kenya will also become a part of this forum.

This year, G20 has invited non-member countries to the summit including Bangladesh, Singapore, Spain, and Nigeria alongside some international organizations like United Nations, World Health Organisation, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

G20 was started in 1999 to help tackle the financial crises across the world.

The first summit was held in Germany and since then, all members of the forum have hosted the summit in their country on an annual basis, where leaders discuss global financial matters, trade policies, economic issues, and more.

This year, India will be hosting the summit while last year, Indonesia hosted the annual event.