Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed his desire for the African Union (AU) to become a member of the G20, a group of the world’s largest economies that will meet in India in September, France-Presse and Agerpres reported.

“We have invited the African Union with the idea of ​​giving it permanent membership” in the G20, Narendra Modi said during the B20 Business Forum ahead of the September 9-10 G20 summit.

In December, US President Joe Biden expressed his desire for the AU to join the G20 as a permanent member, assuring that “it will be done”.

Only one African country, South Africa, is currently a member of the G20, which brings together 19 of the world’s most important economies and the European Union (EU), representing 85% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and two-thirds of the world’s population.

Headquartered in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the African Union has 55 member countries with a combined GDP of $3,000 billion.

India’s prime minister also said that his country, China’s arch-rival, has the capacity to address the supply problems caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

India is the “solution” to building a “reliable global supply chain” because “the world has changed a lot after Covid-19,” Modi said.

On Thursday, Modi held a rare one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the BRICS summit in South Africa.