A unique beginning for India to chart a new path: Foreign Secy at Summit of Voice of Global South

Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra was speaking at a media briefing soon after the conclusion of the two-day virtual summit that India hosted to echo the priorities, perspectives, and concerns of the developing world.

New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Friday said that the Summit of Voice of Global South is a unique beginning that will allow India to chart a new path of greater collaboration towards the realization of priorities of the Global South. He was speaking at a media briefing soon after the conclusion of the two-day virtual summit that India hosted to echo the priorities, perspectives, and concerns of the developing world.

"The summit of Voice of Global South is a unique beginning -- a start which under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-- allows India to chart a new path of greater collaboration towards the realization of the priorities of the Global South," he said. Kwatra said a total of 125 countries participated in this "new and unique initiative".

"There was a clear sentiment that the Global South is being adversely impacted by developments that they did not have a role in creating, and don't have a voice also in how these should be addressed," Kwatra said, further adding that India deeply values the ideas and suggestions put forward by the participating leaders and the ministers during the summit.

He further opined that it would not be entirely incorrect to say that India's presidency would be the first-ever G-20 presidency perhaps 'that can claim to have captured the sentiment and views of the entire developing world -- not just limit itself to the large economies perspective'. Kwatra said India would make "strongest of endeavors to channelize these ideas, these priorities, the concerns of the Global South countries through the international platforms and of course, including during our G-20 presidency."

"One thing which came across clearly during the summit was the need for articulating the voice of the Global South in international institutions and for reforming them for a balanced representation of the developing world," he said.

The foreign secretary said the participants clearly displayed a strong and positive response across the whole world through the Voice of Global South Summit. A sum total of 125 countries participated in this new and unique initiative. These included 29 countries from Latin America & Caribbean, 47 countries from Africa, 7 countries from Europe, 31 countries from Asia, and 11 countries from Oceania.

"This came out very strongly through the summit. In this context, I must mention that India's role and in particular the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was deeply appreciated by all the speakers."

The foreign secretary said Modi's offer to share India's experiences and successful solution templates in various sectors and how to successfully deploy the technology to overcome the developmental challenges was appreciated by the participants. "Many of the participating leaders and ministers asked India to carry their voices into the G-20 and other international groupings," Kwatra said.