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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held the first Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the 3rd Voices of the Global South Summit with the theme “Developing a Unique Paradigm for the Global South”. (Image source: PTI)
Over the past few years, India has been positioning itself as a leading voice articulating the concerns, challenges and aspirations of the Global South.
China and Pakistan were not invited to the third Voices of the Global South summit hosted by India on Saturday, which was held virtually and was attended by 123 countries around the world.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed this at a media briefing after the summit, which focused on jointly addressing challenges faced by the global South or developing countries.
Jaishankar said that 123 countries participated in the summit.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 21 countries were represented at the level of heads of state and government, and 34 ministers of foreign affairs participated.
In addition to the foreign minister, 118 ministers participated in the summit, which consisted of 10 ministerial meetings.
Over the past few years, India has been positioning itself as a leading voice expressing the concerns, challenges and aspirations of the Global South or developing countries, particularly the African continent.
As the chairman of the Group of Twenty (G20) last year, India focused on issues such as inclusive growth, digital innovation, climate resilience and equitable global health services, aiming to benefit the global South.
The heads of state and government attending the 3rd Global South Voices Summit are: Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Chile, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Marshall Islands Islands, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tajikistan, East Timor, Uruguay and Vietnam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the summit leaders' meeting.
Sharing details of the summit, Jaishankar said the challenge of climate change featured prominently at the summit, while many leaders talked about the challenges of debt burden and new technologies.
There was consensus on the need to reform the global governance architecture, he said, adding that the situation in Gaza also came up during the review.
Jaishankar said some leaders also talked about sovereignty, strategic autonomy and interference and expressed concerns in this regard.
Debt woes and the challenges of slow credit growth were also raised at the foreign ministers' meeting, he said.
Other issues raised at the foreign ministers' meeting included rules-based order, sovereignty, equality, mutual respect and equal partnership.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
