Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) on Saturday. At the summit, he highlighted the need for unity among developing nations to tackle shared global challenges. “India has always stood by the Global South, and this summit reaffirms our commitment to inclusive development,” Modi stated during the opening session. He emphasized the importance of collective action on key issues like terrorism, extremism, climate change, and food and energy security, which heavily affect developing nations.
PM Modi further said that the uncertainty in the current global scenario amid conflicts and other concerns, and said that global governance and financial institutions have been inefficient in dealing with today’s challenges. “Today, we are meeting at a time when there is a sense of uncertainty across the world. The world has not been able to completely get out of the impact of Covid. On the other hand, war situations have posed challenges for our development journey. We are facing the challenge of climate change, and now there are challenges of health security, food security and energy security as well,” PM Modi noted.
He further called on countries of the Global South to come together and work as each other’s strength. “Global Governance and financial Institutions built in the last decade have proven to be incapable of fighting the challenges faced in this century. This is the need of the hour that Global South countries come together, in one voice become each other’s strength. We should learn from each other’s experiences, share our capabilities, and give recognition to two-third of the world’s humanity,” the Prime Minister stated.
India is hosting the third Voice of Global South Summit, an event underpinned by India’s philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. The summit is an extension of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas’, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement earlier this week.
The summit is aimed to bring together nations from the Global South to discuss a wide variety of issues and exchange viewpoints and priorities on a single platform. According to the MEA, this summit will serve as a forum to further discussions on a variety of complex issues that continue to impact the world, including conflicts, crises related to food and energy security and climate change, all of which disproportionately and severely affect developing nations.
Notedly, India hosted the first Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) in January 2023, and the second Voice of Global South Summit in November 2023, both in virtual format.
(with inputs from agencies)