The Group of 20 top world economies welcomed the African Union as a member at their annual summit on Saturday.
The language was weaker than that of last year's G20 summit in Bali, however, which quoted a UN resolution deploring "in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine".
More than a fifth of G20 heads weren't in New Delhi as the summit opened. The leaders of Russia and China opted not to come, ensuring no tough face-to-face conversations with their American and European counterparts. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez canceled his attendance after testing positive for COVID-19, and Mexico's president decided to miss it, too.
Participants arriving in the Indian capital were greeted by streets cleared of traffic, and graced with fresh flowers and seemingly endless posters featuring slogans and Modi's face. Security was intensely tight, with most journalists and the public kept far from the summit venue. Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy director of the organisation's Asia division, added that members should not "shy away from openly discussing challenges like gender discrimination, racism and other entrenched barriers to equality, including with host India, where civil and political rights have sharply deteriorated under the Modi administration."
On Friday evening, before the meeting got formally underway, Modi met with US President Joe Biden. White House aide Kurt Campbell told reporters afterward that there was an "undeniable warmth and confidence between the two leaders."
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