'Need To Get 2/3rd of World Population Recognised': PM Modi In Address To 3rd Voice Of Global South Summit

PM Modi addressed the Global South summit hosted by New Delhi today and asserted that it was the need of the hour that nations of the Global South unite and stand together in one voice and be each other's strength.

New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually addressed the Global South summit hosted by New Delhi on Saturday morning, and asserted that it was the need of the hour that nations of Global South unite and stand together in one voice and be each other's strength.

India is hosting the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit in a virtual format. The theme of the Summit is – An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future.

Stating that there was a need to get 2/3rd of the world's population recognised, Modi said India is determined to cooperate with the Global South and share its experiences and capabilities.

"It is the need of the hour that nations of Global South unite and stand together in one voice and be each other's strength. We need to learn from each other's experiences and share each other's capabilities... We need to get 2/3rd of the world's population recognised. India is determined to cooperate with the Global South and share its experiences and capabilities. We want to promote trade, inclusive development, the progress of SDGs, and women-led development...," he said in his virtual address.

The Prime Minister said there was an "atmosphere of uncertainties" as the Global South was facing problems of food, health, and energy security.

"We are meeting at a time when the world is living in uncertainty... War-like situations have raised challenges in our developmental journey. We are already facing the challenges of climate change, but we are also worried about health, food, and energy security. Terrorism, extremism, and separatism pose a serious threat to our society. Technology divide and economic and social challenges related to technology are also coming forward. Global Governance and Financial Institutions built in the last decade have proven to be incapable of fighting the challenges faced in this century," he said.

He said that India took forward G20 in a development-oriented approach. "...When India took over the G20 presidency in 2022 we pledged that we will give G20 a new image. Voice of Global Summit became a platform where we widely discussed development issues and priorities. Based on the aspirations, hopes, and priorities of the Global South, India prepared its G20 agenda. G20 was conducted with an inclusive and development-oriented approach. The biggest example was the historic moment when the African Union got permanent membership in the G20," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that there has been significant progress in partnership with Global South nations in the areas of education, capacity building, and skilling.

He highlighted the launch of the Global South Young Diplomat Forum stating that the ‘South’ or Global South Excellence Centre is working on capacity building, skilling, and knowledge sharing.

Lauding the role of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in driving inclusive growth, he noted that the establishment of the Global DPI Depository during India’s G20 Presidency marked the first multilateral consensus on DPI. He also said that India has established a Social Impact Fund to accelerate progress in DPI in the Global South. He added that India will make an initial contribution of 25 million dollars to this fund.

Modi highlighted that for health security, India’s mission is – One World-One Health and vision is – “Arogya Maitri”. He said that New Delhi upheld this friendship by collaborating on hospitals, dialysis machines, life-saving medicines, and Jan Aushadhi Centers in Africa and Pacific Island countries. Prime Minister also highlighted that in times of humanitarian crises, India has acted as a first responder, assisting friendly nations.

- Closing remarks -

Later in his closing remarks, PM Modi said that today’s discussion has paved the way to move forward together. He expressed confidence this discussion will boost the efforts to achieve goals set up by Global South nations. The Prime Minister also proposed a comprehensive Global development compact on behalf of India.

He said that the foundation of this compact will be based on India’s development journey and experience of development partnership. The Prime Minister said that to strengthen trade promotion activities, India will provide a 2.5 million dollar fund. He added that for capacity building in trade policy and trade negotiations, training will be provided for which India will contribute with a fund of 1 million dollars.

Earlier, briefing reporters in New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, all global south countries have been invited to attend the summit.

"The Global South summit will act as a platform to expand discussions held in the previous Summits on a range of complex challenges that continue to affect the world, such as conflicts, food and energy security crises and climate change," he said.

India hosted the 1st Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) on 12-13 January 2023, and the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit on 17 November 2023, both in virtual format.

Both the previous editions of the Summit saw the participation of over 100 countries from the Global South. The inputs and feedback received from the leaders of the developing countries in these two Summits were appropriately reflected in the agenda and discussions of the G-20 Summit under India’s Presidency last year, including in the G-20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration.