India passes G20 gavel to Brazil

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday handed over the customary gavel of the G20 chair to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and proposed a virtual summit by November to take stock of initiatives taken during the Indian Presidency Brazil will formally assume the G20 Presidency on December 1 this year Modi proposed a virtual G20 Summit by November end at the leadersrsquo summit that concluded here on SundayModi also made a strong pitch for expansion of the UN Security Council and reforms in all global institutions asserting that they should reflect the worldrsquos ldquonew realitiesrdquo as it is naturersquos law that those who donrsquot change with times lose relevance ldquoIn the past two days you have put forward your views given suggestions and a number of proposals have been put forward It is our responsibility that the suggestions that have come forth are closely looked upon as to how they can be speeded uprdquo Modi saidldquoIt is my proposal that we hold another session of the G20 virtually in Novemberend In that session we can review the issues that have been agreed upon during this summit Our teams will share the details of it with all of you I hope all of you will join this sessionrdquo he said ldquoWith this I declare the G20 summit as closedrdquo Modi said He cited a Sanskrit shloka to pray for hope and peace in the entire world Speaking at the lsquoOne Futurersquo session during the G20 Summit Modi made a fresh push for reforms in global institutions including the United NationsldquoIn order to take the world towards a better future it is necessary that the global systems are according to the present realities Today the lsquoUnited Nations Security Councilrsquo is also an example of this When the UN was established the world was completely different from what it is today At that time there were 51 founding members in the UN Today the number of countries included in the UN is around 200rdquo Modi saidldquoDespite this the number of permanent members in the UNSC remains the same The world has since changed a lot in every aspect Be it transport communication health and education every sector has been transformed These new realities should reflect in our new global structurerdquo he saidThe UNSC has five permanent members the US China France Britain and Russia Pitching for reforms he said that is why a historic initiative was made on Saturday by making the African Union a member of the G20ldquoSimilarly we also need to expand the mandate of multilateral development banks Our decisions in this direction should be immediate and effectiverdquo he said The next Summit will be held in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024Indiarsquos message of peace and unity to world MacronAs G20 President India did its best to send across a message of unity and peace to the world while Russia was still waging its aggression against Ukraine French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday On IndoFrench defence ties Macron without giving specific details said additional contracts and procurements will follow in months and years to come G21 in BrazilThe idea of the African Union AU joining the G20 was put forth at a meeting of representatives from G20 countries They agreed on it but it wonrsquot happen right away It will become official during the 19th G20 Summit in Brazil The AU with 55 member states is the second regional bloc to become a permanent member of the G20 after the European Union However there is no declaration so far on the name of the summit changing to G21 Several African leaders have welcomed the decision to admit the AU as its 21st memberlsquoA breakthrough summit in many waysrsquoRussia on Sunday said the G20 Summit under Indiarsquos presidency was a ldquobreakthroughrdquo conclave in many ways as its outcomes showed a path to the world to move forward on a range of challenges and demonstrated the strength and importance of the Global South In a press briefing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said India played an important role in ldquopreventing the Westrdquo from taking forward their approach on many issues including Ukraine ldquoIt is a breakthrough summit in many ways It provides us a way forward to move ahead in many issuesrdquo he added20No of G20 members before the inclusion of the African UnionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever