Johannesburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday departed for New Delhi after attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit and holding bilateral meetings with various world leaders here.
“After successfully concluding his engagements at the G20 Summit and meetings with world leaders, PM Narendra Modi departs from Johannesburg, South Africa,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a social media post.
“The successful Johannesburg G20 will contribute to a prosperous and sustainable planet. My meetings and interactions with world leaders were very fruitful and will deepen India’s bilateral linkages with various nations,” Modi said in a post on X.
“I’d like to thank the wonderful people of South Africa, President Ramaphosa and the Government of South Africa for organising the Summit,” he added.
Modi on Sunday met his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Italian premier Giorgia Meloni, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his counterparts from Jamaica and the Netherlands.
Modi also held interactions with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
Earlier addressing the third session of the G20 summit here, Modi called for a global compact to prevent misuse of artificial intelligence and made a strong pitch for critical technologies to be human-centric, instead of finance-centric.
Modi also said technology applications should be “global” rather than “national”, and based on “open source” rather than “exclusive models”.
Modi also addressed the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) leaders’ summit and said the reform of the UN Security Council was no longer an option, but a necessity.
He asserted that the India-Brazil-South Africa troika should send a clear message for changes to institutions of global governance.
On Saturday, Modi met his British counterpart Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and several other world leaders.
Modi proposed a G20 initiative aimed at enhancing clean energy transitions by boosting recycling, easing supply chain pressures and advancing joint research on critical minerals, and suggested forging a partnership to make satellite data more accessible and interoperable.
Modi also called for a profound rethink of the global development parameters and proposed setting up of a G20 initiative to counter the drug-terror nexus and a global healthcare response team.
Modi arrived at Waterkloof Air Force Base (AFB) on Friday in Gauteng, where he was accorded a warm and ceremonial welcome.
This was the first G20 Summit held in Africa. The African Union became a member of the G20 during India’s presidency in 2023.
