WATCH: PM Modi's candid moments with Giorgia Meloni, Brazil's Lula steal spotlight at G20 Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefly drew attention on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg on Saturday during a light hearted exchange with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The two leaders were seen laughing, shaking hands and sharing warm greetings in an easy and candid moment.

The Prime Minister was also seen exchanging warm hugs with several world leaders, including Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during the summit.

PM Modi reached the venue on Saturday, a day after receiving an enthusiastic and colourful welcome on his arrival in Johannesburg.

At the airport on Friday, a cultural troupe greeted him with traditional performances and bowed to him as a mark of respect, setting a warm tone for India’s presence at the high level gathering. Later, members of the Indian diaspora welcomed the Prime Minister with a vibrant programme featuring folk dances from eleven Indian states in a presentation titled Rhythms of a United India.

PM Modi proposes key intiatives at G20 Summit

The Prime Minister used the opening session of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg to call for a shift in global development priorities, urging member nations to adopt models that are inclusive, sustainable and rooted in civilisational wisdom. With Africa hosting the summit for the first time, he said the moment demands a renewed understanding of how progress is measured, particularly for regions that have long faced resource deprivation and ecological imbalance.

Speaking in the session on inclusive and sustainable economic growth, leaving no one behind on Saturday, PM Modi said India’s principle of Integral Humanism offers a framework for more balanced development. He also outlined three major proposals aimed at transforming cooperation on knowledge, skills and security across continents.

The three key intiatives proposed by him are - a traditional knowledge repository, a continent-wide skills multiplier for Africa, and a joint effort to dismantle the drug–terror nexus.