Turkish President Erdogan attends 2nd day of G-20 summit in India

By Diyar Guldogan

NEW DELHI (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will participate Sunday in the third session of the G-20 summit in New Delhi.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Erdogan and other leaders and heads of delegations, at Raj Ghat.

They signed a Peace Wall and laid wreaths at international Indian icon Mahatma Gandhi's memorial before attending a tree-planting ceremony.

The third and final session of the summit, "One Future," will take place at the newly inaugurated Pragati Maidan conference center at the Bharat Mandapam culture corridor, where a statue of Nataraja, the Hindu God of dance, as an important symbol of cosmic energy, creativity and power -- is located.

Erdogan will have sideline meetings with participating leaders following the session, and he is expected to gather with international journalists at a news conference.

At the closing session, term president India will hand over the presidency to Brazil.

The G-20 presidency will be handed to Brazil in 2024 and South Africa in 2025.

Leaders, in the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, attended the "One Earth" and "One Family" sessions Saturday to make progress on trade, climate and other global problems.

The African Union (AU), a bloc of 55 countries, formally took a seat Saturday as a member of G-20 at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"This will strengthen the G-20 and also strengthen the voice of the Global South," said Modi.

At its core, the G-20 is an intergovernmental forum primarily concerned with economic issues made up of the world’s 20 largest economies -- 19 countries and the European Union. It plays an important role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues.