Express News Service
NEW DELHI: As India begins its G20 Presidency this year, it is natural that our aim is to amplify the Voice of the Global South, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the first “Voice of Global South Summit” virtually on Thursday.
This summit, a new initiative of the government, was attended by leaders of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guyana, Mozambique, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. “We at the Global South have the largest stakes in the future, three fourth of humanity lives in our countries, we should also have an equivalent voice,’’ Modi said.
The Indian leadership has emphasised that it will act as the representative of the Global South during its G20 Presidency. Modi said that most of the global challenges have not been created by the Global South, but they affect these nations more. “We have seen this in the impacts of the Covid pandemic, climate change, terrorism and the Ukraine conflict. We supplied medicines and vaccines to over 100 countries during the pandemic as India has always stood for a greater role for developing countries in determining our common future,’’ he added.
PM emphasised on the need for the Global South to be included in the global financial and political governance. “We believe the path to realising ‘oneness’ is through human centric development. People of the Global South should no longer be excluded from the fruits of development. Together, we must attempt to redesign global political and financial governance,’’ he added.
Modi proposed a new global agenda based on “respond, recognise, respect and reform” to re-energise the world. “Respond to the proud needs of the Global South by framing an inclusive and balanced international agenda, recognise that the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities applies to all global challenges, respect the sovereignty of all nations, rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes, and reform international institutions, including the UN, to make them more relevant,” he said.
The world, he added, is in a “state of crisis” after turning the page “on another difficult year” that saw war, conflict, terrorism and geo-political tensions, rising food, fertiliser and fuel prices, climate change-driven natural disasters and the persisting economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. “It is difficult to predict how long this state of instability will last,” he added.
PM Modi said that despite the challenges the developing world faces, he was optimistic that “our time is coming”. “The need of the hour is to identify simple, scalable and sustainable solutions that can transform our societies and economies. With such an approach, we shall overcome the difficult challenges, whether it is poverty, universal healthcare or building human capacities.”
The discussions between the leaders at the inaugural session were held behind closed doors. The Voice of Global South Summit will have eight ministerial sessions on priority areas. The Indian side plans to channel the ideas and inputs generated by the summit into the G20 process. Modi will chair another session of heads of state and government at the conclusion of the summit on Friday.
