New Delhi:
On the occasion of the ceremonial handover of the G20 chairmanship, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday handed over the gavel to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who praised India for giving voice to issues of importance to emerging economies.
During the closing session, Prime Minister Modi handed over the gavel and offered best wishes to Brazil for the presidency. Brazil will officially take over the mantle of the elite group’s presidency on December 1 this year.
During his speech, Lula da Silva congratulated Modi and thanked India for his efforts to give voice to the issues of interest to emerging economies.
Lula da Silva also mentioned social inclusion, the fight against hunger, the energy transition and sustainable development as priorities of the G20.
He said the UN Security Council needs new developing countries as permanent, non-permanent members to regain political strength.
“We want greater representation of emerging countries at the World Bank and the IMF,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday gave fresh impetus to reforms in global bodies, including the United Nations, saying that despite the increase in the number of member states of the world body, the number of permanent members in the UN Security Council has remained the same.
In his address to the ‘One Future’ session of the G20 summit, the Prime Minister said the world’s ‘new realities’ must be reflected in a ‘new global structure’.
He said the world was different when the UN was founded with 51 members. Now the number of member states has risen to almost 200, Modi said.
It is the law of nature, PM Modi said, that those who do not change with time lose their relevance.
He also said that cryptocurrency was a new topic for social order, monetary and financial stability and sought global standards to regulate it.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)