Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attended the G20 Summit of top global leaders at Rio de Janeiro to explain to the international community India’s position on various global developments and pressing issues.

The summit began this morning with Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva welcoming the participating leaders at the Museum of Modern Art. He received PM Modi with a warm hug and the two leaders chatted for a few minutes before the Indian leader entered the main hall.

”Looking forward to the proceedings at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Thankful to President Lula for the warm welcome,” Mr Modi wrote on ‘X’.

Apart from the heads of member states, representatives of international organisations are participating in various sessions of the summit and deliberate on the priority areas of this year’s declaration.

The theme of the summit is “Building a just and sustainable world” and the sessions to be held over the new two days are a reflection of that.

On day 1, the inaugural session will have the global leaders discussing the “Global Alliance on Hunger and Poverty”, the initiative taken under the Brazilian Presidency. The second session of the day will be on one of the most critical issues of “Reforms of Global Governance Institutions”.

Earlier, the PM arrived in Brazil to a rousing welcome on the second leg of his three-nation visit to attend the G20 Summit. The PM reached Rio de Janeiro after concluding a successful visit to Nigeria.

The celebrations outside the hotel, where he will stay, included a traditional dandiya ceremony with dancers dressed in vibrant Gujarati attire, as well as chants of Vedic mantras performed by Brazilian scholars. Members of the diaspora waved the Indian tricolour and chanted ”Modi, Modi” as soon as he arrived at the hotel.

In a social media post on ‘X’, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in the vibrant city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the G20 Brazil Summit.” It also shared pictures of PM Modi’s welcome at the airport.

On his official X handle, the PM wrote, “Landed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to take part in the G20 Summit. I look forward to the summit deliberations and fruitful talks with various world leaders.” In Brazil, he will attend the 19th G20 Summit as a member of the Troika. India is part of the G20 Troika along with Brazil and South Africa.

Besides Mr Modi, the summit is to be attended by top world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“This year, Brazil has built upon India’s legacy. I look forward to meaningful discussions in keeping with our vision of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’. I will also use the opportunity to exchange views on furthering bilateral cooperation with several other leaders,” the PM said ahead of his three-nation tour.

Induction of the 55-nation African Union as a permanent member of the G20 and managing to produce a leaders’ declaration overcoming deep divisions over the Ukraine conflict were seen as major milestones of India’s G20 presidency last year.

The high-level delegation accompanying the PM includes External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and others.

After attending the G-20 Summit, the PM will visit Guyana from November 19-21 at the invitation of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. It will be the first-ever visit of an Indian PM to Guyana in more than 50 years.

During his visit to Nigeria, PM Modi was conferred with the country’s national award, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), making him only the second foreign dignitary to receive the distinction. This was the 17th international award conferred on PM Modi by a country. Queen Elizabeth II is the only other foreign dignitary to be conferred with the award.