Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday proposed a comprehensive “Global Development Compact” at the Voice of Global South Summit with its foundation based on India’s development journey and experiences of development partnership as leaders raised their concerns over debt burden, climate change and conveyed their sentiment for reforms at the United Nations.
In his closing remarks at the Summit, PM Modi said the views of the leaders show that the Global South is united and discussions have laid the foundations for going forward with mutual understanding.
The Third Voice of Global South Summit, hosted by India and held virtually, saw the participation of 123 countries.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishanker, who addressed a press conference after the Summit, said this is the first plurilateral event, big plurilateral event of the BJP-led NDA Government in its third term.
“It has been part of our 100-day agenda. So we’re delighted that we could get that moving,” he said.
The minister said at the level of head of state/head of Government, there were 21 countries. There were 118 Ministers, not counting the Foreign Ministers, and there were 34 Foreign Ministers. There were also five Multilateral Development Banks.
“So if you add it all up together, that’s 21 plus 118- 139; plus 34, so 173 plus 5,” he said.
PM Modi said to boost trade promotion activities, India will launch a special fund of USD 2.5 million.
“Training will be provided in trade policy and trade negotiation for capacity building. A fund of one million dollars will be provided for this.”
He said that ‘Global Development Compact’ will not It will not put the needy countries under the burden of debt in the name of development finance.
“After listening to all of you today, on behalf of India, I would like to propose a comprehensive ‘Global Development Compact’. The foundation of this Compact will be based on India’s development journey and experiences of development partnership. This Compact will be inspired by the development priorities set by the countries of the Global South themselves,” PM Modi said.
“It will be human-centric, multi-dimensional and promote a multi-sectoral approach to development. It will not put the needy countries under the burden of debt in the name of development finance. It will contribute in balanced and sustainable development of the partner countries,” he added.
PM Modi said under this ‘development compact’, “we will focus on trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth, technology sharing, project specific concessional finance and Grants”.
He said India is contributing to the SDG Stimulus leaders group for financial stress and development funding in countries of the Global South. “We will work to make affordable and effective generic medicines available to the Global South. We will also provide support to the training of drug regulators. We will be happy to share our experiences and technology in ‘natural farming’ in the agriculture sector,” he said.
Referring to countries raising concerns about tensions and conflicts, PM Modi said this is a serious issue for all of us.
“Solutions to these concerns depend on just and inclusive global governance, such institutions whose priorities give preference to the Global South, where developed countries also fulfill their responsibilities and commitments, take steps to reduce the gap between the Global North and the Global South. The Summit of the Future at the UN next month could be an important milestone for all of this,” he said.
Answering a query during his press conference, Jaishankar said there is there growing sentiment for UN reform.
“I think there are many specific ideas. You know, different groups of countries have their own ideas. So, the exercise is to find a way of reconciling that to the best possible and then subjecting it to a democratic choice. Now, we are not going to get perfect unity among 190-odd countries in the world saying this is how we are going to go about it. Nor do we expect it. So, our view is, look, open it up, let everybody put forward their idea, and then give the membership of the UN the ability to make that choice,” he said.
“We believe today that there should be a negotiation, there should be a text-based negotiation, that whatever emerges from it, we are not saying it’s necessarily something that has to agree with us. But, if really we believe in a democratic world order, then we think this 190-odd members should be allowed to vote about the future of the UN, like many of us vote about our respective futures. And we feel that process has been unduly and unfairly blocked. So, our striving is in that direction. We know that it is not without its challenges, but we continue to pursue it,” he added.
Asked if the issue of political interference in domestic affairs by global powers raised, Jaishankar said there is a concern in many countries of Global South.
“Was the issue of political interference raised? Yes. I think at the Leaders’ level, definitely I can remember one, two people at least, bringing it up at the Foreign Ministers’ level as well. So I think for many countries of the Global South, this is a concern. Now, the idea here was really more to hear each other out, draw from each other,” he said.
Jaishankar said situation in Gaza came up for mention by many leaders.
“Some of them spoke about also on the role of the civil society. And then there was, again, talk about sovereignty, strategic autonomy, about interference, and concerns which were expressed in that regard.”
Answering a query, he said many leaders talked about the Israel-Hamas war with some of them also talking of Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“I would say quite a few people raised Gaza. Some did, in both the Leaders’ and Foreign Ministers’, mentioned Ukraine. But definitely Gaza, the references to Gaza were much more frequent than to Ukraine. And the thrust of it, I think, was really concern at the casualties, civilian casualties, and the sentiment was that the situation needs to go back to a ceasefire and to a negotiation. And I think that would be a fair characterization of a very broad range of sentiments,” he said.
Jaishankar said many leaders, perhaps more on the Foreign Ministers’ meeting, spoke of the challenges of terrorism, extremism.
“I mean, as I said, PM himself mentioned it in his opening Remarks, as issues which Global South has a shared concern. Obviously, everybody has their own version of this particular challenge. I would say people are pretty clear about it. I mean, I don’t think anybody defended it, or caveated it, or justified it in any way,” he said.
On the debt burden, Jaishankar said no particular country was mentioned.
“But the debt burden was clearly mentioned, that yes, we have debt burdens. And you know, part of it was in terms of borrowings. But also, there was this concern, look, we are facing a liquidity crunch. This is affecting our trade. Today, we are under economic pressure. So it was a mix, really, of all of this. And also, you know, that we need more access to more windows of lending. I think that sentiment was there.”
Among specific concerns which the Ministers raised, Jaishankar said bridging the digital divide and technology concerns was mentioned.
“Many of them spoke about corridors and connectivity, physical connectivity, energy connectivity, maritime connectivity, about supply chains. Few of them referred to cultural preservation concerns, that they were worried that their cultures… they were not just getting physically inundated by climate change, but in many cases also their cultures, they felt were vulnerable to what was happening in the world,” he said.
“There was reference to disaster-resilient infrastructure, I think here particularly the small islands and the smaller countries were much more focused on that. And the overall messaging which came out of the Foreign Ministers was very much inclusive, equitable, representative, international order, and that the Global South really has to democratize global governance, it has to be much more active. So that was the sum and substance of mostly what happened at the Leaders’ and the Foreign Ministers’ level,” he added.
Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, also took part in the meeting. Jaishankar said it would not be appropriate for him to either comment on his remarks or to give a fuller description.
“But I would say he began by greeting the Prime Minister and India on Independence Day. And then in terms of the subject matter, he did refer to geopolitical challenges, to climate change as a very big concern, about the COVID issue. And then he spoke about the situation in Bangladesh, because it wasn’t only him. Many other leaders also spoke about their national circumstances, apart from commenting on global issues. So I think what he said on national circumstances is better something which would come out of his own system rather than for me to talk about it,” he said.
The Voice of Global South Summit is a unique initiative which began as an extension of PM Modi’s vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas’, and is underpinned by India’s philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
It envisages bringing together countries of the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform across a whole range of issues.
India had hosted the first Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) on January 12-13 2023, and the second Voice of Global South Summit on November 17, both in virtual format.
Both the previous editions of the Summit saw participation of over 100 countries from the Global South. The inputs and feedback received from the leaders of the developing countries in these two Summits was appropriately reflected in the agenda and discussions of the G-20 Summit under India’s Presidency last year, including in the G-20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration.
The third VOGSS was held with the overarching theme of “An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future”. There were be 10 Ministerial Sessions during the Summit.