Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, in his address at the India-UN Global Summit, said that it was appropriate to start the G20 presidency by convening a summit on “Voice of the Global South”. He also emphasised New Delhi’s position when it comes to South-South cooperation.
Jaishankar said while speaking at the ‘India-UN for Global South: Delivering for Development’ event:
“During the summit, which involved 125 nations of the South, it was clear that the global south in addition to bearing the consequences of structural inequities and historical burdens was plagued by the impact of economic concentration, Covid, tensions and disputes which have stressed and distorted the international economy.”
EAM believes that the G20 Presidency has been challenging because the world faced a very sharp polarisation between East and West and a very deep North-South divide. He said:
“While we are the G20 president till the end of this year, both before the G20 presidency and after it, we will remain very much a partner, a contributor, a collaborator, in our own way perhaps an inspiration to others on how to address developmental challenges. Our experiences and our challenges, we place before in a spirit of sharing.”
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj emphasises that India’s engagement with the Global South is destined by Indian culture and history. Kamboj underlined India’s efforts during Covid-19 as well as the development projects that have been implemented over the last decade. She said:
“During Covid, India had extended a helping hand by providing made-in-India vaccines to nearly 100 countries and supplying medicines to 150 nations. Our development partnerships have also expanded significantly, reaching 78 nations across diverse regions and we have, over the past decade, initiated 600 projects that stand as a testament to our goodwill for our friends.”
In her report, Kamboj also added that at the UN, the India-UN Development Partnership Facility, a single country South-South initiative, has successfully built a portfolio of 75 projects in 56 developing countries in just 6 years.
At the summit, UNGA President Dennis Francis said that being the first to usher the African Union into the group as a permanent member is a strong sign of solidarity and co-operation among countries of the South. Francis said:
“Our enduring partnership from the UN’s heart to India’s remotest villages serves as an inspiration to the Global South…Throughout this week, we discussed global crises and agreed that we must bridge gaps between commitments to the sustainable development agenda and its implementation.”
Jaishankar is in New York to lead the Indian delegation for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. After concluding his visit to New York, he will travel to Washington, DC.
