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PM addresses 3rd Voice of Global South
In his opening Remarks at the Inaugural Leaders’ Session of the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit on August 17, 2024 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi emphasized the role of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in inclusive development as a revolution, and reaffirmed the importance of the Social Impact Fund in hastening the spread of DPI in the Global South.
“The contribution of Digital Public Infrastructure in inclusive development is no less than a revolution,” Prime Minister Modi stated, adding that the Global DPI Repository, created under India’s G-20 Presidency, was the first ever multilateral consensus on DPI. He noted that agreements to share the “India Stack” had been reached with 12 partners from the Global South.
“To accelerate DPI in the Global South, we have created the Social Impact Fund. India will make an initial contribution of $25 million,” Prime Minister Modi announced.
The meeting comes at a time when there is an atmosphere of uncertainty all around, Prime Minister Modi remarked, as he stated, “The world has not yet completely come out of the impact of Covid. On the other hand, the war situation has posed challenges to our development journey,” he pointed out.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi highlighted the challenges of climate change and concerns about health security, food security, and energy security. He also spoke on Terrorism, extremism and separatism.
“The global governance and financial institutions built in the last century have been unable to fight the challenges of this century,” he stated.
Reiterating India’s commitment to sharing its experiences and capabilities with all the countries of the Global South, Prime Minister Modi referred to the promotion of mutual trade, inclusive growth, advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and women-led development. “Over the past few years, our mutual cooperation has been boosted by infrastructure, digital and energy connectivity,” he remarked.
“In 2022, when India took over the G-20 Presidency, we resolved that we will give a new shape to the G-20. The Voice of Global South Summit became a platform where we openly discussed problems and priorities related to development. And India designed the G-20 agenda based on the hopes, aspirations and priorities of the Global South,” Prime Minister Modi recalled.
While the inaugural session hosted by Prime Minister Modi was attended by Heads of State and Government, the summit also features 10 Ministerial Sessions, each dedicated to a specific theme relevant to the Global South.
Through this summit, India seeks to institutionalize a platform where the Global South can collectively address their challenges and work towards a more inclusive and sustainable global order.
In closing remarks Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi expressed his sincere gratitude for their valuable thoughts and suggestions. He said, “On behalf of India, I would like to propose a comprehensive “Global Development Compact”. The foundation of this Compact will be based on India’s development journey and experiences of development partnership. This Compact will be inspired by the development priorities set by the countries of the Global South themselves.”
“It will be human-centric, multi-dimensional and promote a multi-sectoral approach to development. It will not put the needy countries under the burden of debt in the name of development finance. It will contribute in balanced and sustainable development of the partner countries.”