Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a global
centre of excellence for the Global South countries called DAKSHIN on Friday.
The prime minister noted that he had proposed setting
up the centre during the first Voice of Global South Summit in January this
year.
In his opening remarks at the inaugural session of the
Second Voice of Global South Summit, PM Modi said “I had proposed setting up a
Global South Centre of Excellence for the Global South at the first Voice of
Global South Summit. I am happy that the Dakshin Development and Knowledge
Sharing Initiative Global South Centre for Excellence is being inaugurated
today.”
“During the G20 Summit, I on behalf of India proposed
to launch a satellite for monitoring weather and climate monitoring for Global
South. We are working on it at a fast pace,” PM Modi said.
Laying emphasis on the importance of the Global South,
PM Modi said that it has always existed geographically but it is getting a
voice for the first time due to joint efforts.
“Geographically, the Global South has always existed,
but it is getting a voice for the first time, and this is because of the joint
efforts. We are more than 100 countries but our priorities are similar,” he
said.
“India believes that new technology 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, India will next month organise the AI
Global Partnership Summit,” the Prime Minister said.
He also highlighted that the topic of the Global South
was also included in the New Delhi G20 Declaration. PM Modi said that India’s
priority was to make the G20 “inclusive and human-centric.”
The PM said India gave prominence to the priorities of
the Global South in more than 200 G20 meetings held across India during the
year.
“Last year in December, when India accepted the
presidency of G20, we took it as our responsibility to raise the voice of the
Global South. Our priority was to make the G20 inclusive and human-centric. We
tried to make the development of the people, by the people and for the people,
the focus of the G20. It is with this objective that we organized the Voice of
Global South Summit for the first time in January this year,” PM Modi said.
“In more than two hundred G20 meetings held in
different states of India, we gave prominence to the priorities of the Global
South. As a result, the topics of the Global South were included in the New
Delhi Leaders Declaration and we were successful in getting everyone’s consent.
I cannot forget that historic moment when because of India’s efforts, the
African Union got permanent membership of the G20,” he said.
“For global prosperity, sabka saath and sabka vikas is
paramount. We all are seeing that new challenges are emerging from the events
in the West Asia region. India has condemned the terrorist attack in Israel on
October 7. We have laid emphasis on exercising restraint, dialogue and
diplomacy,” PM Modi said.
The Second Voice of Global South Summit, taking place
in a virtual mode, 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 second VOGSS will be structured into 10 sessions.
The inaugural and concluding sessions would be at the Head of State /
Government level, and hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The theme of the inaugural leaders’ session is “Together,
for Everyone’s Growth, with Everyone’s Trust” and that of the concluding
leaders’ session is “Global South: Together for One Future”, the Ministry of
External Affairs said.
ANI
