India will host the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit Friday in a virtual format, in what will be the second time since January this year. The second summit will start with an Inaugural Leaders’ Session chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the morning. The Ministry of External Affairs said that India had hosted the inaugural Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) on 12-13 January 2023 virtually. This unique initiative brought together 125 countries of the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform. Throughout its G20 Presidency, the MEA said India has “worked to ensure that the concerns of the Global South receive due cognisance and that the priorities of the Global South were duly factored in finding solutions to the most pressing global challenges”. “The 2nd summit would focus on sharing with countries of the Global South the key outcomes achieved in various G20 meetings over the course of India’s Presidency. The challenges posed by global developments are also likely to be discussed. Further, the summit will serve as a platform to discuss ways to sustain the momentum generated towards our common aspiration of a more inclusive, representative and progressive world order,” it said. According to MEA, the 2nd summit will be structured into 10 sessions, the inaugural and concluding sessions would be at Head of State / Government level, and hosted by PM Modi. The theme of the Inaugural Leaders’ Session is “Together, for Everyone’s Growth, with Everyone’s Trust” and that of the Concluding Leaders’ Session is “Global South: Together for One Future”. In addition, there will be eight Ministerial Sessions, with the following themes: Foreign Ministers’ Session on “India & the Global South: Emerging Together for a Better Future”, Education Ministers’ Session on “Making Human Resources Future Ready”, Finance Ministers’ Session on “Financing People-Centric Development”, Environment Ministers’ Session on "Sustainable Solutions for Climate Resilience and Climate Finance”. It will also include Foreign Ministers’ Session on “Global South and One Development”, Energy Ministers’ Session on “Affordable & Inclusive Energy Transition for Sustainable Development”, Health Ministers’ Session on “Solutions from the Global South for One Health” and Commerce / Trade Ministers’ Session on “Global South & Resilient Supply Chains”. The eight ministerial sessions will include two Foreign Ministers’ Sessions; one Ministerial session each of Education, Finance, Environment, Energy, Health & Commerce Ministers and a Concluding Leaders’ Session in the evening. Sources said that countries from across the world would be participating – Pacific Islands in the East to Latin America in the West. “The key focus would be to share the beneficial outcomes and progress achieved in the concerns/priorities of the Global South during India’s G20 Presidency. Also to deliberate on the way forward for the Global South to achieve common objectives,” the source said. The theme for the first Voice of Global South Summit was “Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose” and had a total of 10 sessions, and sought to seek inputs from the Global South for the agenda of ‘Bharat G20 Summit’.
