Excellencies, Namaskar!
Good afternoon.
It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all to the Foreign Ministers’ Session of the 3rd Voice of the Global South Summit.
This gathering takes place as the world grapples with multiple conflicts, tensions and stresses. We, the nations of the Global South, are particularly impacted. The purpose of this exchange of views is to define our interests through that process. Hence, the theme of this session- Charting a Unique Paradigm for the Global South.
Excellencies,
Allow me to present the four themes that we would be deliberating upon, recognizing their centrality to achieving SDGs and advancing global progress:
1. Strengthening economic resilience.
The experience of the pandemic, conflicts and climate events have driven home the necessity for reliable and resilient supply chains. Not just that, there is also an acute need to diversify production itself in various domains to de-risk the international economy. What we earlier argued for in terms of socio-economic justice is today an equally compelling logic for the entire world in terms of predictability.
2. Climate change and energy transitions
The risks of climate change, the cost of transition pathways and accessibility to resources are the three big issues of the ongoing debate. During our G20 Presidency, we strove to highlight Just Energy Transitions. We must work together as a family towards facilitating the flow of low-cost financing and critical technologies to the Global South.
3. Revitalising multilateralism
It is an undeniable fact that even as the global order faced critical challenges, solutions did not emerge from the multilateral domain. The reason is both the obsolescence and the polarization of multilateral organizations. Here too, India has argued for reformed multilateralism and sought reform of Multilateral Development Banks through the G20. As a group, we need to press home our case.
4. Democratising Digital Transformations
The Digital Public Infrastructure has been a key driver of the transformation currently underway in our country. Some of our experiences will be of interest to Global South partners. They could also benefit from intra-South digital exchanges and cooperation.
Excellencies,
We welcome your views on these and related matters. Next month, the Summit of the Future will be taking place in New York. It is important that our interests and concerns are well articulated on that important platform. I look forward to hearing your views today, keeping in mind that we, as the Global South, must work collectively to ensure a better future.
I thank you for your attention.
