As India hosted the second Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) in virtual mode on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the Hamas attacks of October 7 and called for restraint, dialogue and diplomacy in resolving the Israel-Hamas conflict. Expressing concern over civilians suffering in the conflict, PM Modi also recalled his conversation with Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas and India’s humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. PM Modi inaugurated a global centre for excellence for the Global South countries called DAKSHIN and said that the Global South has, for the first time, a voice on the global stage. He also called for 5 ‘Cs’ for the Global South: consultation, cooperation, communication, creativity and capacity building. VIDEO | PM Modi speaks at the opening event of the Voice of Global South Summit. pic.twitter.com/Pl5DingAh7 — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 17, 2023 The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India had hosted the inaugural VOGSS on January 12-13, 2023, in a virtual format. 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 cognizance 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 had said. The summit will be structured into 10 sessions and the inaugural and concluding sessions will be at the head of state/government level, and hosted by Prime Minister Narendra 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’; and the 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 or trade ministers’ session on ‘Global South & Resilient Supply Chains’. The theme of the first VOGSS was ‘Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose’. At that time, the summit was held in a virtual format, with 10 sessions in total. It saw the participation of leaders and ministers from 125 countries of the Global South, including India. “The key focus would be to share the beneficial outcomes and progress achieved in the concerns/priorities of the Global South during India’s G-20 Presidency. Also to deliberate on the way forward for the Global South to achieve common objectives,” the source said.
