India Offers African Union Countries Permanent Membership in G20

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the country's role as the host of the G20 will focus this year on highlighting the issues facing the developing world, and has invited the African Union to become a permanent member of the forum. This information comes from the Associated Press.

"We have a vision of inclusivity, and with that vision, we have invited the African Union countries to become permanent members of the G20," Modi said on Sunday at the Business 20 summit in New Delhi.

The B20 is a branch event that is part of the upcoming summit of 20 wealthy and developing nations to be held next month in the Indian capital. Over the course of three days, leaders from the industry and political sectors around the world discussed topics such as creating resilient supply chains, digital transformation, the debt challenges facing developing countries, and strategies to achieve climate change goals.

According to the organizers, their recommendations will be presented to the governments of G20 countries.

As the host country for this year's G20, India has been working to bridge the differences among participant nations caused by the war in Ukraine. However, none of the several meetings held in the country has produced a communiqué, raising questions about whether next month's leaders' meeting could break the deadlock.

Instead, India has consistently called on the divided group to reach a consensus on issues that disproportionately affect developing countries, or what is referred to as the Global South. These include unacceptable levels of debt, depreciation, and the threat of climate change.