India to host 2nd Voice of Global South Summit on November 17
The second edition will focus on “sharing with countries of the Global South the key outcomes in various G20 meetings” during India’s presidency
NEW DELHI: India will host the second Voice of Global South Summit on November 17 to discuss challenges posed by global developments and to sustain momentum for a more inclusive world order ahead of a virtual G20 Summit.
Like the first Voice of Global South Summit in January, the second one will be held virtually. The initiative brought together 125 countries from the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform.
India has projected itself as the representative of the Global South, and worked during its G20 presidency to ensure that the concerns of developing countries were recognised and their priorities factored into efforts to find solutions to the most pressing global challenges.
The second Voice of Global South Summit will focus on “sharing with countries of the Global South the key outcomes achieved in various G20 meetings” during India’s presidency of the grouping of the world’s 20 largest economies, the external affairs ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The challenges posed by global developments are also likely to be discussed,” the statement said. The Voice of Global South Summit will also be a platform to discuss ways to sustain the “momentum generated towards our common aspiration of a more inclusive, representative and progressive world order”, it added.
The summit will have 10 sessions. The inaugural and concluding sessions will feature heads of state or government and will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The theme of the inaugural leaders’ session is “Together, for everyone’s growth, with everyone’s trust”, while that of the concluding leaders’ session is “Global South: Together for one future”.
There will also be eight ministerial sessions. The themes for two sessions featuring foreign ministers’ are “India and the Global South: Emerging together for a better future” and “Global South and one development”. The theme for the finance ministers’ session is “Financing people-centric development”, while the education ministers’ session will focus on “Making human resources future ready”.
The theme for the environment ministers’ session is “Sustainable solutions for climate resilience and climate finance”, and that of the energy ministers’ session is “Affordable and inclusive energy transition for sustainable development”. The health ministers’ session will focus on “Solutions from the Global South for one health”, while the theme for the commerce and trade ministers’ session is “Global South and resilient supply chains”.
At the end of the first Voice of Global South Summit in January, India unveiled three initiatives to assist developing countries in areas ranging from technology to health. It also announced the “Aarogya Maitri” project to provide medical supplies to developing countries hit by natural disasters.
India also used the first summit as a platform for generating ideas and suggestions from developing countries that were channelled into discussions at G20 meetings.
New Delhi is set to host a virtual meeting of G20 leaders on November 22 to follow up on crucial decisions made at the G20 Summit in September, especially the development agenda, and to discuss other global issues such as the geopolitical challenges arising from the Ukraine war and Israel-Hamas conflict.