UPDATE - African Union takes seat at G-20 summit in India

ADDS MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Anadolu staff

NEW DELHI (AA) - The African Union (AU) on Saturday formally took seat as a member of G-20 at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"With your concurrence ... I would like to invite the chair of the African Union to take his place as a permanent member of G-20," Modi said as he opened the summit in New Delhi.

The Indian premier hugged African Union President Azali Assoumani in a congratulatory gesture as the latter took a seat on the high table.

Assoumani, who's the president of Comoros, a country in East Africa, joined other leaders of the world's largest economies who have gathered in India’s capital for the 18th G-20 summit to discuss food security, climate crisis and debt. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not attending the two-day meet.

"Honoured to welcome the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 Family. This will strengthen the G20 and also strengthen the voice of the Global South," Modi later wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The G-20 India said the move was meant for a “more inclusive and more vocal" Global South and described it as a “key outcome" of the summit under the theme, One Earth, One Family, One Future.

The G-20 currently comprises 19 countries and the EU, with the members representing around 85% of global GDP, and more than 75% of global trade.

Cyril Ramaphosa, a former chair of the AU, a continental body of 55 member states, said "we are delighted" to have been accepted into the Group of Twenty.

“Developing economies are bearing the brunt of climate change, despite carrying the least responsibility for this crisis,” he tweeted.

“As African and other developing economy countries, we face the task of meeting our climate commitments in the midst of significant developmental challenges like poverty, inequality and unemployment.”

He called for addressing climate change, environmental degradation and resource scarcity "collectively and with a great deal of solidarity."