Voice of Global South a unique beginning: Foreign Secretary Kwatra

The Voice of the Global South summit allowed India to chart a new path of greater collaboration towards the realisation of the priorities of the developing countries, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Friday.

He made the remarks at a media briefing soon after the conclusion of the two-day virtual summit that India hosted to echo the priorities, perspectives and concerns of the developing world.

"There was a clear sentiment that the Global South is being adversely impacted by developments that they did not have a role in creating, and don't have a voice also in how these should be addressed," Kwatra said.

The foreign secretary said India deeply values the ideas and suggestions which have been put forward by the participating leaders and the ministers during the summit.

"It would not be incorrect to say that India's presidency would be the first ever G-20 presidency perhaps that can claim to have captured the sentiment and views of the entire developing world -- not just limit itself to the large economies perspective," he said.

Kwatra said India would make "strongest of endeavours to channelise these ideas, these priorities, the concerns of the Global South countries through the international platforms and of course, including during our G-20 presidency." "The summit of Voice of Global South is a unique beginning -- a start which under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-- allows India to chart a new path of greater collaboration towards realisation of the priorities of the Global South," he said.

Kwatra said a total of 125 countries participated in this "new and unique initiative".

"These included 29 countries from Latin America and Caribbean, 47 countries from Africa, seven countries from Europe, 31 countries from Asia and 11 countries from Oceania," he said.

The foreign secretary said the participants clearly displayed a strong and positive response across the whole world through the Voice of Global South Summit.

"One thing which came across clearly during the summit was the need for articulating the voice of the Global South in international institutions and for reforming them for a balanced representation of the developing world," he said.

"This came out very strongly through the summit. In this context, I must mention that India's role and in particular the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was deeply appreciated by all the speakers." The foreign secretary said Modi's offer to share India's experiences and successful solution templates in various sectors and how to successfully deploy the technology to overcome the developmental challenges was appreciated by the participants.

"Many of the participating leaders and ministers asked India to carry their voices into the G-20 and other international groupings," Kwatra said.