G20 Admits African Union As Permanent Member

The African Union has been granted permanent member status in the Group of 20 top world economies, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday, adding momentum to his drive to give a greater voice to the Global South as host of this year’s annual summit. The announcement during Modi’s opening speech for the weekend summit of the G20 comes as growing global rifts and the absence of key players threatened to make reaching consensus on the thorniest issues elusive. There was widespread support, however, for adding the AU to the G20, making it the second regional bloc to become a permanent member after the European Union.