'Inclusion of the African Union makes G20 more reflective of the world's realities today,' says expert

The very character of G20 has undergone a fundamental transformation with the inclusion of the African Union. Africa benefits by being able to shape the global governance agenda more forcefully by being at the centre of the global conversation, Africa can no longer be ignored, says Harsh Pant, President of studies at Observer Research Organisation while speaking to ETV Bharat's Chandrakala Choudhury.

New Delhi: India's continuous advocacy for including the African Union (AU) as a permanent member of the G20 bloc has certainly shown the country's rising global stature with the successful ending of the G20 Summit in the national capital.

The AU, which represents 55 countries, was admitted as a new member of the G20 on Saturday last, three months after India proposed its inclusion. Now the question is what does the inclusion of the AU in the G20 mean for India and the world and how the membership is going to benefit the AU?

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Harsh Pant, President of studies at Observer Research Organisation (ORF) said, " AU's permanent membership in G20 certainly has been India's huge achievement and it has shown that India as a country walks the talk".

"It signifies that multilateral institutions today can no longer ignore the voice of the developing world. The voice of the Global South needs to be at the heart of the multilateral governance agenda if multilateral institutions are to have any credibility," Pant said.

By having AU as an equal member in the G20, the character of the G20 changes. It makes G20 more reflective of the world's realities today, he opined.

"The way G20 will now be moving forward will be with a very different set of agenda because there will be a different voice at the table, which will represent the voice of the global south more effectively, which is African Union," Prof Pant said.

He noted that the very character of G20 has undergone a fundamental transformation with the inclusion of the AU. "With this, Africa benefits by being able to shape the global governance agenda more forcefully, by being at the centre of the global conversation, Africa can no longer be ignored," he added.

"G20's expansion has shown the way that it cannot have a stakeholder outside the tent if global challenges are to be addressed more effectively," the expert noted.

The idea of including AU as a permanent member of the G20 was initially conceived at the Voice of the Global South summit in January 2023. However, the idea was put into action in June this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to the leaders of the G20 countries, urging them to grant full membership to the AU in the G20 Summit.

India has been at the forefront in bringing the AU to the global table and lending voice to the 55 member states regional bloc to help position itself at the global and multilateral institutions including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The inclusion of the AU comes at a time when there is an increase in global rifts and the absence of major members, which has threatened the success of reaching a consensus on the principle issues. India successfully hosted the G20 Summit with the whole world hailing the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hosting such a historic Summit by reaching a consensus on a joint G20 Delhi declaration.