‘Swasti Astu Vishwa’: PM wraps up G20 meet with prayer for peace amid Ukraine war

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday wrapped up the G20 Summit with ‘Swasti Astu Vishwa’ -- a prayer for peace -- as he handed over the gavel of G20 presidency to the President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The slogan, which roughly translates to "let there be peace in the world", was given against the backdrop of the New Delhi Leaders' Summit Declaration adopted on Saturday, considered a breakthrough achievement at the G20 Summit.

Despite conflicts amongst G20 negotiators over agreement on the Ukraine issue, the G20 leaders converged at the Summit and adopted the Delhi Declaration with a "100% consensus". "Today's era must not be of war," the declaration stated.

Prime Minister Modi, as he concluded the Summit, said in his closing remarks, “I declare the end of G20 summit. Hoping the roadmap of One Earth One family and One future be joyful. Thank you!”

G20 VIRTUAL SESSION IN 2023

Noting that India holds the responsibility of the G20 presidency till November 2023, PM Modi proposed a virtual session to review the issues discussed during the Summit.

“In last two days, all of you came up with a lot of suggestions and put forth proposals. It is our duty to review the suggestions we have received so as to see how their progress can be sped up. I propose a virtual session at the end of November to review the topics discussed in the Summit,” he said, urging everyone to connect during the virtual session.

BRAZIL TAKES OVER G20 PRESIDENCY

PM Modi congratulated the Brazilian President on his nation’s upcoming presidency in 2024. The Brazilian President, after taking over the G20 presidency, also congratulated PM Modi for “efficiently leading G20 bloc and the excellent work in this Summit”. He emphasized the importance of establishing global equality.

“We will only be able to face the global problems if we address the issue of inequality - inequality of income, of access to healthcare, education, food, gender and race and also of representation is at the origin of these anomalies,” Lula said, emphasizing that the UN Security Council needs new developing countries as permanent, non-permanent members to regain political strength.

In a symbolic ceremony earlier, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva -- representing the G20 presidencies of last year and the next year – respectively handed over a sapling each to current chair on Sunday. The ceremony took place at the start of the third session, 'One Future', of the G20 Summit.

PM MODI AT 'ONE FUTURE' SESSION

Speaking at the 'One Future' session of the G20 Summit, PM Modi called for world's “new realities” to reflect in “new global structure”, as he emphasised the need for reforms in global bodies like the United Nations.

“World was different when UN was founded with 51 members, it has risen to nearly 200 now. It's nature's law that those who don't change with times lose their relevance,” he said, urging for immediate, effective decisions on expansion of mandate of multilateral development banks.

On the second day of the summit, PM Narendra Modi received the G20 leaders and delegation heads at New Delhi’s Rajghat. They paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, followed by a tree-plantation ceremony at the G20 venue, Bharat Mandapam.

On the first day of the historic G20 Summit, India pulled off a big diplomatic win after the G20 summit adopted a consensus declaration overcoming major differences on the Russia-Ukraine war, as Prime Minister Modi called for ending "global trust deficit".

PM Modi also announced that the African Union was admitted as G20's permanent member. India, which holds the G20 presidency, has highlighted 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' as the theme of this year’s summit.