External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar said Bharat’s G20 Presidency advocated for finding
solutions from within the Global South on Friday.
He said Bharat walked
the talk by hosting the first Voice of the Global South Summit in January 2023
and added that the nations were able to hold discussions on the key concerns
and priorities of the Global South.
While addressing
the Foreign Ministers Session of the Second Voice of the Global South,
Jaishankar said, “As we took over the G20 Presidency last year, Prime Minister
Modi declared that and I quote – Our G20 priorities will be shaped in
consultation with not just our G20 partners, but also our fellow travellers
from the Global South, whose voice often goes unheard.
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 G20 discussions throughout the year.”
The External
Affairs Minister noted that long-standing structural inequities have been
seriously aggravated by the devastation caused by the Covid. Jaishankar
stressed that it has turned worse due to the fuel, food and fertilizer crisis
emanating from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and its response.
He stated that
India is hosting the Second Voice of Global South to report on key outcomes
from the New Delhi G20 Summit.
“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,” said Jaishankar.
“Resource
challenges, financial constraints, disrupted trade and climate events have
added to our burdens. As a result, growth prospects are as daunting as the SDG
landscape is grim. It was our foremost responsibility to refocus the G20 on the
pressing needs of the global South. Thanks to the ideas and inputs received
from all of you, India’s G20 presidency did advocate for finding solutions from
within the Global South,” he added.
Jaishankar
highlighted that the New Delhi Leaders Declaration of the G20 Summit will be
remembered for bringing back the G20’s focus on the “real and serious concerns
of the Global South.” He said that the declaration is a comprehensive message
on promoting strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.
“It seeks to
accelerate progress on SDGs and has come up with an action plan accordingly. It
envisages a green development pact for a sustainable future. It endorses
high-level principles on lifestyle for sustainable development, voluntary
principles on hydrogen, the Chennai Principles for a Sustainable and Resilient
Blue Economy, and the Deccan principles on food security and nutrition, amongst
others,” Jaishankar said.
He stated that G20
has affirmed the fundamental importance of gender equality and committed to
half the digital gender gap by 2030. Jaishankar called the inclusion of the
African Union in the G20 as the most satisfying outcome of India’s G20
presidency.
He said that the
Voice of the Global South can be greatly impactful by amplifying individual
voices and projecting shared interests for the emerging world. He emphasised
that institutions like the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for the
Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, and the One Future Alliance serve to offer
solutions from the Global South for the world’s most pressing challenges.
“While change is
the natural order, that continues to be a resistance for a greater role for the
Global South in shaping solutions for the key issues of our times. But
together, we need to continue putting greater emphasis on the need to take
everyone along and everyone’s views along while we deliberate at multilateral
and plurilateral forums. The Voice of the Global South Summit can be greatly
impactful by amplifying our individual voices and project our shared interests
for the emerging world order,” Jaishankar said.
He said that
Global South needs to work towards self-reliance to mitigate its
vulnerabilities vis-a-vis economic concentrations. He noted that COVID era is a
stark reminder fo the “perils of dependence for basic necessities on far away
geographies.” He added, “We need to not only democratize and diversify
production but build resilient and reliable supply chains and promote local
solutions. Only then can the Global South secure its future.”
Jaishankar
reaffirmed India’s commitment to the Global South through an extensive range of
development projects in 78 nations and stressed that these projects are “demand-driven,
outcome-oriented, transparent and sustainable.”
ANI
