Voice of Global South summit highlights: Global South needs its autonomy, says Modi

"We aim to enhance capacity building across sectors in the Global South. Apart from that, we also have shared interests as far as global peace is concerned," Prime Minister Modi said. 

In his concluding remarks, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Global South needs its own autonomy. 

"Two summits of Global South being held in a year and a large participation in it sends out a big message to the world. The message is- Global South wants its autonomy, Global South wants its voice to be heard on Global Governance, Global South is ready to take big responsibility on global issues...India is proud that during an important forum like the G20, we got the opportunity to put the voice of the Global South on the agenda..." Modi said. 

Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday that the central government's National Education Policy (NEP) can act as a template for emerging economies towards developing comprehensive strategies for human resource development. 

At the Voice of Global South Summit, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that while the global problems such as climate change and geopolitical tensions amid war have not been created by the Global South, they affect the countries of global south more. 

"The polycrisis of COVID-19 pandemic, impact of climate change and raging geopolitical tensions have disrupted and underscored the fragility of global supply chains. These disruptions have created monumental challenges in food, connecting energy, security, cost of living, and achievement of sustainable development goals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rightly pointed out that most of the global challenges have not been created by the global south, but they affect us more. He has further underscored the need for our collective voice to be heard whenever and wherever the world looks for solutions to global challenges," Goyal said.
 

India's minister for education Dharmendra Pradhan kicked off the Education Ministers Session of the 2nd Voice Of Global South Summit to focus on the "priorities in education and skilling" and with an aim to make human resources future-ready. 
 

Welcomed Education Ministers of the Global South at the Education Ministers Session of the 2nd #VoiceOfGlobalSouthSummit to share their perspectives and priorities in education and skilling for making our human resources future-ready.

Under the leadership of Hon. PM… pic.twitter.com/rbnZl8mavM

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) November 17, 2023

Kenya's President William Ruto urged nations in the Global South to unite in addressing issues affecting the world by utilising the democratic character of multilateralism. 

President Ruto noted that it is time these nations stepped forward to safeguard their collective interests.

"These conditions have created an environment where millions of people are poor and unemployed, struggling against a global order that appears rigged against their aspirations," he said.

"The overdue economic renaissance of the Global South is held off by systematic marginalisation and exclusion from multilateral discourse in terms of effective participation and benefits," he added.

India's foreign minister Dr S Jaishankar said that New Delhi has walked the talk when it comes to the concerns of Global South, and added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration is aware of the acute stress globally amid the conflict in Ukraine. 

India's Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar | X/@sidhant

India's External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar in his address to the Foreign Ministers' session at the Voice of Global South Summit said that India's G20 priorities were shaped in consultations with New Delhi's "fellow travelers from the global south". 

"India has since walked the talk by hosting the first voice of the Global South Summit in January this year. By doing so, we were able to elicit and deliberate on the key concerns and priorities of the global South. This, in turn, informed our approach to the G-20 discussions throughout the year. All of us are acutely aware of the growing stress on the international economy and global society. Long-standing structural inequities have been seriously aggravated by the devastation of the COVID pandemic. This has been made worse by the fuel, food and fertilizer crisis emanating from the Ukraine conflict and its responses," Jaishankar said. 

India's G20 presidency's specific emphasis has been on issues and concerns of the countries of Global South in the wake of most pressing global challenges.

The Ministry of External Affairs has maintained that India has "worked to ensure that the concerns of the Global South receive due cognisance and that the priorities of the Global South were duly factored in finding solutions to the most pressing global challenges".

"The 2nd summit would focus on sharing with countries of the Global South the key outcomes achieved in various G20 meetings over the course of India’s Presidency. The challenges posed by global developments are also likely to be discussed. Further, the Summit will serve as a platform to discuss ways to sustain the momentum generated towards our common aspiration of a more inclusive, representative and progressive world order," the MEA had said.

PM Modi said that India pushed to "make the development of the people, by the people and for the people" as specific focus of its G20 presidency.

"Our emphasis on the issues of the Global South made it possible for us to arrive at a consensus for the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration," Modi said. 

India has announced the opening of an institution for global south: DAKSH-IN Global South center of excellence. Dakshin is Hindi for South. 

DAKSH-IN stands for Development and Knowledge Sharing INitiative.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Global South is getting a voice of its own for the first time, reflecting New Delhi managing to prioritise the needs of Global South nations despite unprecedented geopolitical tumult created by wars, US-China trade competition, and climate change crisis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also addressed the Israel-Hamas war and ongoing crisis in West Asia stoked by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7 that killed around 1200 people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the inaugural session of the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit laid emphasis on New Delhi's stance that latest technological upgrades specifically in the area of Artificial Intelligence should not widen the gap between the Global North and the Global South.

"During the times of Artificial Intelligence, it is important that technology should be used responsibly. To further promote this, next month, India will organise the ArtificiaI Global Partnership Summit," Modi said.

WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal is reporting on the leaders participating at the second Voice of Global South Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural session of the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit. Modi said that the global south is getting a voice for the first time despite its cumulative existence geographically.

"We are more than 100 countries but our priorities are similar. Last year, during the G20 Summit, our attempt was to focus on the development, of the people, by the people and for the people," Modi said.

A total of four ministerial sessions will begin at 12:30 PM, IST (7:00 AM GMT) side-by-side. These sessions will include the sessions by External Affairs Ministry and ministries for Information and Technology, Education, Finance and Environment.  

In the afternoon four more parallel ministerial sessions are scheduled. These will begin at 04:00 p.m. These would include the sessions again by EAM as by the Ministers of Energy, Health and Commerce.

There will be a leader session again, and concluding session at 06:30 PM (IST) or 1:00 PM (GMT)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the inaugural session of the virtual summit at 10 am (IST) or 4:30 AM (GMT).

The theme of the inaugural Leaders’ Session is 'Together, for Everyone’s Growth, with Everyone’s Trust'.