NEW DELHI: The African Union was made a permanent member of the G20, comprising the world’s richest and most powerful countries, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the bloc’s summit in New Delhi on Saturday.

The African Union, a continental body of 55 member states, now has the same status as the EU — the only regional bloc with a full membership. Its previous designation was “invited international organization.”

Modi, in his opening remarks at the summit, invited the AU, represented by Chairperson Azali Assoumani, to take a seat at the table of G20 leaders as a permanent member.

“We welcome the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 and strongly believe that inclusion of the African Union into the G20 will significantly contribute to addressing the global challenges of our time,” a draft declaration reviewed by Reuters showed earlier.

The move was proposed by Modi in June.

Other issues being decided on at the summit include more loans to developing nations by multilateral institutions, reform of international debt architecture, regulations on cryptocurrency and the impact of geopolitics on food and energy security.

The 38-page draft which was circulated among members left the “geopolitical situation” paragraph blank — reflecting deep division over the war in Ukraine — but 75 other paragraphs indicated broad agreement on issues such as cryptocurrencies and reforms in multilateral development banks.

The G20 previously comprised 19 countries and the EU, with the members representing around 85 percent of global gross domestic product, more than 75 percent of global trade and about two-thirds of the world population.

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