Dubai: Kenyan President William Ruto termed the country's ties with India "fantastic" and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making sure that the African Union (AU) becomes a permanent member of the G20.

He said that India and Kenya have a fantastic bilateral relationship and added that he is looking forward to visiting India.

"India has made a very huge contribution. We want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making sure that Africa became a permanent member of the G20 during his presidency. And we will be having further conversations with him," the Kenyan President told ANI.

"We have a fantastic bilateral relationship and it is my intention that we are going to build on that relationship during my visit to India later...," he added.

The African Union is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The move to include the African Union in the G20 grouping was proposed by PM Modi earlier this June.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his opening remarks at the 18th G20 Leaders' Summit, invited the African Union, represented by Chairperson Azali Assoumani, to take a seat at the table of G20 leaders as a permanent member.

"With everyone's approval, I request the AU head to take his seat as a permanent G20 member," Modi said in his address.

Following PM Modi's announcement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar accompanied the President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union (AU), Azali Assoumani, as he took his seat among world leaders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his day-long visit to the UAE on Friday after successfully attending the World Climate Action Summit of the Conference of Parties-28.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the PM's visit was defined by fruitful engagements with global leaders and path-breaking initiatives for accelerating global climate action.

During his UAE visit, PM Modi noted that climate change has had an immense impact on the countries in the Global South.

The PM said that to fulfil the aspirations of the Global South, climate finance and technology are essential. The prime minister underlined that countries in the Global South, including India, have a smaller role to play in climate change but the impact of climate change on them is immense.

COP28 is being held from November 28-December 12 under the Presidency of the UAE in Dubai. The summit has witnessed the presence of global leaders over the past two days, including French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and many others.

The World Climate Action Summit is the high-level segment of the 28th Conference of Parties (COP-28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This is PM Modi's third appearance at the World Climate Action Summit after his visits to Paris in 2015 and Glasgow in 2021.

During the PM's UAE visit, India and Sweden announced the launch of the Leadership Group for Industry Transition 2.0 (LeadIT 2.0) in Dubai.

The PM said the initiative will have three focuses. "First, inclusive and just industrial transition. Second, co-development and transfer of low-carbon technology; and third support for emerging technology. To make all this possible, we are also launching the India-Sweden industrial transformation platform. I have full belief that we will write a new green growth story for the generation to come," PM Modi said.