 "Third Voice of Global South Summit: How India is institutionalising a developing world perspective amid polarising global order")
As the world is beset by conflicts, wars, and the impact of the pandemic and geopolitical fault lines, the Global South continues to suffer for no fault of theirs and gets caught in the crossfires of geoeconomic contestations. India has once again made a choice to voice the concerns and plight of the developing and underdeveloped world across continents while alleviating their suffering in accordance with its universalistic policy of “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam"—the world is one family.
Even during its G20 Presidency (2022–23), the theme of the summit was “One earth, One family, and One Future”. Although many would have preferred to refer to the requirements of the developing countries as a given, PM Narendra Modi made a point to invite the leaders of the Global South for a virtual summit, enabling them to articulate their genuine concerns and suggestions for ploughing into the G20 remit and landscape.
As a result of conflicts and pandemic the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fight against climate change had taken a back seat, which was brought forward and into the focus by India. New Delhi had a very difficult task to wade through the geopolitical divide between Russia and the West, which would have otherwise marred the summit altogether. But PM Modi’s personal connection with the leaders and diplomatic dexterity carried the day in an exemplary manner.
India hosted the first virtual ‘Voice of the Global South Summit’ (VOGSS) in January 2023 with the participation of over 120 leaders from across the continents. The theme was ‘Unity of Voice and Unity of Purpose’. PM Modi, in his remarks, laid out the 4Rs matrix, which essentially hinged on the key issues confronting the developing world. The mantra included Respond, Recognise, Respect, and Reform.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“To re-energise the world, we should together call for a global agenda of ‘Respond, Recognise, Respect, and Reform’: Respond to the priorities of the Global South by framing an inclusive and balanced international agenda. Recognise that the ‘Common but Differentiated Responsibilities’ principle applies to all global challenges. Respect the sovereignty of all nations, the rule of law, and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. And reform international institutions, including the United Nations, to make them more relevant,” PM said while underscoring that “your voice is India’s voice and your priorities are India’s priorities”.
One of the key agendas India followed at the G20 was greater representation of the Global South; hence, the inclusion of the African Union (AU) with its fifty-five member states became a priority so that the voice of Africa and the Global South could be heard loud and clear. VOGGS served as a platform to discuss ways to sustain the momentum generated towards our common aspiration of a more inclusive, representative, and progressive world order.
After the G20 Summit, New Delhi organised the second summit in November 2023 with 140 countries to take stock of the efforts and the relevant outcomes of the G20 with the theme ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas’—‘Together, for Everyone’s Growth, with Everyone’s Trust’. Even as the Eurasian and Middle East wars continued to take their toll, especially in the Global South, Indian priority was to de-weaponise and de-politicise the food, fuel, and fertilisers, which are so essential for the well being of the Global South.
Besides the issues such as climate change, health, food and energy security, resilient value and supply chains, sustainable development, global governance, and international cooperation remained at the forefront. India also inaugurated the “Global South Centre of Excellence—Dakshin”, which acts as the incubator of ideas and projects for enhancing South-South cooperation. Moreover, initiatives like the platform of the Global South Science and Technology Initiative, the Global South Scholarship Programme, cooperation in the health sector, and the Global South Young Diplomats Forum have acquired reasonable traction as engagement with think tanks and other institutions became commonplace. Foreign Ministers conversed on ‘India and the Global South: Emerging Together for a Better Future’ for creating a new road map.
Again, on August 17, the third Voice of Global South Summit will seek to do a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Since conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas war are increasing in intensity with huge escalation potential, there is hardly any respite for the Global South countries. Hence the third summit, which appears to be institutionalised and will be chaired by PM Modi, will seek to address the inherent shortcomings apart from the global challenges of development, terrorism, and climate change, as well as capacity building and making the human resource future ready as the countries lead into AI-driven Industrial Revolution 4.0 with new technologies and newer frontiers.
Moreover, effort is needed to create and curate the indigenous developmental solutions and critical mass of specified interests and opportunities, which should be mutually sustaining within the ambit of South-South cooperation devoid of dependence on the ODA model and Washington Consensus.
India has acquired tremendous heft in the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which could act as a starting point with AAA technologies that are ‘available, affordable, and accessible’ within the parameters of our capacity-building assistance matrix. Likewise, health care, logistics and agronomic practices, and agro-processing could benefit from the technological advances. S-S trade and government-to-government (G2G) efforts to help the evolution of functional public-private partnership (PPP) models of cooperation would go a long way for the creation of viable global and regional value supply chains. Neo-colonial practices by certain countries leading to non-sustainable indebtedness will have to be structurally addressed through innovative and indigenous expertise within the Global South, where India can lead the charge.
The institutionalisation of VOGGS clearly attests to India’s commitment to the Global South in a holistic framework of mutually beneficial cooperation, as PM Modi believes, “Despite the challenges the developing world faces, I remain optimistic that our time is coming. The need of the hour is to identify simple, scalable, and sustainable solutions that can transform our societies and economies.”
The author is the former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta and is currently a Distinguished Fellow with Vivekananda International Foundation. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
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