PM Modi Passes Gavel to Brazil's Lula as G20 Summit in Delhi Closes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called an end to the G20 Summit in New Delhi by passing on a ceremonial gavel to Brazil, which will take the bloc’s presidency from India. “I want to congratulate Brazil’s president and my friend Lula da Silva, and hand over the presidency’s gavel to him,” PM Modi said at the closing ceremony of the G20 Summit.

“India passes the gavel to Brazil. We have unwavering faith that they will lead with dedication, vision and will further global unity as well as prosperity. India assures all possible cooperation to Brazil during their upcoming G20 Presidency,” PM Modi wrote on social media platform X.

India’s G20 presidency concluded a day after reaching a consensus on the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, which included paragraphs on the Ukraine conflict. Several nations commended India for brokering a consensus among the member states on some contentious issues through a series of discussions that included, 200 hours of negotiations, 300 bilateral meets, and 15 drafts.

Reminding the leaders that India has the responsibility of the G20 presidency till November, PM Modi proposed to hold a virtual session at the end of November to review the topics decided in the Delhi summit. “I hope you all will connect in the virtual session. With this, I declare the conclusion of the G20 Summit,” he added.

Brazil, which presides over the Group of 20 nations, will now have 21 members. The group has now effectively become G21, following the entry of the African Union into the bloc on Saturday. This move has been welcomed by several countries in the region, further expanding a group that already represents 85 percent of the world’s GDP.

Taking over the reins of the grouping, the Brazilian President Lula da Silva said “geopolitical issues” should not derail G20 discussions. In an implicit reference to diplomatic wrangling over the Ukraine war, he said, “We cannot let geopolitical issues sequester the G20 agenda of discussions.” Lula said the world has no interest in a divided G20 but in peace and cooperation instead.

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