Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the world is in crisis, alluding to conflicts, wars, terrorism, and the numerous global challenges that have resulted from them, addressing the virtual inaugural session of the Voice of Global South summit 2024 on Thursday. According to the Prime Minister, it is hard to predict how long this level of instability would last. He expressed concern over rising prices of food, fuel and fertilisers, the economic impact of the Corona pandemic as well as natural disasters caused by climate change.
Inaugurating the conference, PM Modi said in the presence of several leaders from various developing countries, that the world is clearly in crisis and emphasised the need for the Global South to break free from the cycle of dependency on systems and circumstances that are not of its making. The Global South, according to PM, does not have a significant voice in the “eight decades-old models of global governance,” and it should influence the “emerging order.”
PM Modi further stated that we have left behind another difficult year which was marked by wars, conflicts, terrorism and geo-political tensions, and rising food, fertilizer and fuel prices. The Prime Minister said, “We (Global South), have the largest stakes in the future. Most of the global challenges have not been created by the Global South. But they affect us more. ”
To reenergize the world, he suggested that ‘We should, together, call for a global agenda of response, recognise, respect and reform. The need of the hour is to find simple, scalable, and sustainable solutions to improve our societies and economies. We shall overcome the difficult challenges, with such an approach.”
We backed each other in the battle against foreign rule, and we can do it again in this century to construct a new international order that will safeguard the welfare of our citizens, he said. He added that India has always shared its development successes with its ‘brothers’ from the “Global South.” The Prime Minister mentioned that it is only natural that our goal would be to strengthen the voice of the “Global South” as India is hosting the G-20 this year. “Your voice is the voice of India, and your priorities are India’s priorities,” he further said The PM also added that the countries of the South will drive global growth in the twenty-first century.
The Voice Of Global South Summit 2023
On January 12 and 13, India is hosting a two-day “Voice of Global South” summit, which will bring together developing nations on a common platform to discuss their issues in the aftermath of major global crises, such as food and energy security resulting from the crisis in Ukraine. The outputs of the summit, which India intends to release in the form of a summary of the participating leaders’ priorities, viewpoints, contributions, and ideas, would be channelled through the country’s G20 presidency. The summit is also part of India’s efforts to improve its standing as a representative of the Global South. The ‘Global South’ broadly refers to the developing countries and emerging economies of Asia, Africa and South America.
The inaugural session was themed ‘Voices of developing countries for a human-centred world’ and the theme of the concluding ministerial-level valedictory session will be ‘Unity of Voice-Unity of Purpose’, which will also be headed by Prime Minister Modi. 10 sessions will be held during the summit, four of which will take place on Thursday and six will be held on Friday. Each meeting will likely include ministers and leaders from 10 to 20 different nations. The leaders from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Uzbekistan, Guyana, Thailand, and Mongolia were present at the sessions of the Voice of Global South Summit on Thursday.
