The 3rd Edition of the Voice of the Global South Summit helmed by India kicked off on Saturday, 17 August with 123 countries participating in the virtually.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi helmed the Summit, proposed the creation of a human-centric “Global Development Compact” for the Global South to facilitate trade, sharing of technologies and concessional financing based on India’s growth journey, in a move that came amid concerns over many countries falling into the Chinese ‘debt trap’.
“Needy countries will not be burdened with debt in the name of development finance” PM Modi said announcing the new initiative.
PM Modi said the ‘Compact’ will be in line with the priorities of developing countries even as he urged the Global South to work unitedly in confronting food and energy security crises and the challenge of terrorism and extremism.
Out of the 123 participating countries, 21 nations were represented by their Heads of State and Government. 34 foreign ministers attended the deliberations and 118 other ministers also joined the ministerial sessions, according to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Head of Bangladesh’s interim government Mohammad Yunus, Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay, his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth were among those who attended the summit.
Top leaders of Belarus, Chile, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Lao PDR, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Oman, Suriname, Tajikistan, Timor Leste, Uruguay and Vietnam also participated in the Summit.
At a media briefing, S Jaishankar said a range of issues including climate change, debt burden, challenges of new technologies, the situation in Gaza and the need for reform of the multilateral institutions figured in the deliberations.
Some of the leaders also talked about sovereignty, strategic autonomy and interference and expressed concerns in that regard, he said.
To a question, S Jaishankar said China and Pakistan were not invited to the summit.
Speaking on inclusive global governance, PM Modi said “steps should be taken to reduce the gap between the Global North and the Global South. The Summit of the Future to be held in the UN next month can become an important milestone for all this.”
In his address at the opening session of the summit, PM Modi called on the Global South to work unitedly in dealing with food and energy security crises and challenges of terrorism, amid concerns over the consequences of “uncertainties” across the world.
PM Modi said India will make an initial contribution of USD 25 million to the ‘Social Impact Fund’ that aims to develop digital public infrastructure (DPI) in the Global South.
In the last few years, India has been positioning itself as a leading voice, flagging concerns, challenges and aspirations of the Global South or the developing nations, especially the African continent.
As the G20 president last year, India focused on issues like inclusive growth, digital innovation, climate resilience, and equitable global health access with an aim to benefit the Global South.
In a significant milestone under India’s G20 presidency, the African Union became the new permanent member of the grouping in the first expansion of the influential bloc since its inception in 1999.
