India’s neighborhood and Africa will find prominence in the Voice of Global South summit which will be hosted by New Delhi virtually on January 12-13.
While Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will participate on the inaugural day of the event, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will be participating in the valedictory session on January 13. About 20 world leaders are expected to be present in two different sessions of the event which will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually.
The inaugural and concluding sessions would be at the head of state level, and hosted by the Prime Minister. The theme of the inaugural leaders’ session is ‘Voice of Global South- for Human-Centric Development’ and that of the concluding leaders’ session is ‘Unity of Voice-Unity of Purpose’.
Leaders from several countries from the Global South including Bangladesh, UAE, Cambodia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique, Senegal, Angola, Ghana, and Vietnam will participate in the sessions chaired by PM Modi. Among the invited countries for the Voice of Global South Summit— Bangladesh, Nigeria, and UAE— are also the special invitees at the upcoming G20 summit meeting under India’s presidency.
Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra did not answer directly whether invitations had been extended to China, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to participate in any of the sessions in the Voice of Global South summit. “Invitations are going across to more than 120 countries of the Global South, the list of confirmed participation across various sections will be shared later,” said Kwatra.
The idea of the event is to lend a platform to over 120 countries, to which the Indian government has sent an invitation to participate, to talk about global and regional issues. Detailing the event, Kwatra said that the ‘Voice of Global South’ summit under the theme ‘Unity of Voice-Unity of Purpose’ envisages bringing together countries of the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform.
The summit will be spread over ten sessions. Four sessions would be held on January 12, and six sessions on January 13. Each session will have the participation of leaders/ministers from 10-20 countries.
Apart from the inaugural and concluding sessions, there would be eight ministerial sessions focusing on the issues of economy, health, climate, food and energy security, trade and commerce, and education. One session with participation from the foreign minister will be based on ‘G-20: Suggestions for India’s Presidency’. The discussion will also cover the stress of the pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine Conflict on the Global South which has worsened with disruption in the global supply chain of essential commodities like food, fuel, and fertilisers.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar has underlined the pressure on the Global South in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war during his statements at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine in September. “In a globalised world, the impact of the conflict is being felt even in distant regions. We have all experienced its consequences in terms of surging costs and actual shortages of food grains, fertilisers, and fuel. On this score too, there are good grounds to be worried about what awaits us. The Global South, especially, is feeling the pain very acutely,” the minister had said.
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