Finance
According to his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, the issues to be raised at next week’s virtual Voice of the South Summit announced by India align with those strongly advocated by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
India announced on Friday that the Voice of the South Summit, which will be attended by 120 countries, will discuss global issues from the perspective of developing countries.
Dujarric said that on the issues on its agenda, Guterres “has been very vocal about and flagging how much the developing countries have been hurt by the conflict in Ukraine, by the unequal approach to solving the Covid crisis, debt relief and so on”.
India, as president of the G20, a group of major industrialised and emerging economies, is taking the lead in bringing the views of other developing countries to the attention of the group that dominates the global economy.
The inaugural meeting of heads of state or government, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 12, will focus on the summit’s theme, “Voice of the Global South – for Human-Centric Development,” and the closing session for leaders will focus on “Unity of Voice-Unity of Purpose” the following day.
The agenda includes specialized breakout sessions for foreign, finance, health, education, commerce, and energy ministers in between.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra announced the summit, saying it is inspired by India’s philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (The World Is a Family) and follows Modi’s vision of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayasa” (With All, Development for All, Hope for All and Endeavour for All).
Modi has advocated for developed-country leadership based on development and cooperation rather than political polarization.
Source:IANS
