New Delhi, Jan 12, 2023, By Special Correspondent

New Delhi, Jan 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said that people of the global south should no longer be excluded from the fruits of development underlining that it must attempt to re-design global political and financial governance. 

Addressing the two-day virtual Voice of Global South Summit, he said, most of the global challenges have not been created by the Global South but they affect it more and it is evident in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, terrorism, and even the Ukraine conflict.

He said that the Global South has the largest stakes in the future as three-fourths of the humanities live in its countries. The Prime Minister said, India has always shared its development experience with the global south and its development partnerships cover all geographies and diverse sectors. 

Modi expressed confidence that, together, the Global South can produce new and creative ideas, and these ideas can form the basis of our voice in G20 and other forums.

He said, India's G20 theme of One Earth One Family One Future will create oneness through human-centric development.    

Modi said the world has turned the page on another difficult year that shows war, conflict, terrorism, and geopolitical tensions, rising food fertilisers, and fuel prices. 

He said the need of the hour is to identify simple, scalable, and sustainable solutions that can transform societies and economies.

The Prime Minister noted that to re-energise the world, the countries should together call for a global agenda of response, recognition, respect, and reform.  

Later in his closing remarks, the PM said, in the 20th century, the developed countries were the drivers of the global economy and today, most of these advanced economies are slowing down.

Clearly, in the 21st century, global growth will come from countries of the South. 

Modi said, if the global south works together, it can set the global agenda. The Prime Minister said, in the upcoming sessions on Thursday and Friday, the summit will further amplify and develop the valuable ideas which have emerged from the discussions on the first day.

He asserted that the Voice of the Global South needs to set its own tone saying together, it needs to escape the cycle of dependency on systems and circumstances which are not of its making.

India is hosting the summit which envisages bringing together countries of the Global South and sharing their perspectives and priorities on a common platform across a whole range of issues.

More than 120 countries have been invited for this summit.