Empowering the Global South: Highlights from the 2024 Global South Summit
17-08-2024
06:30 PM
1 min read
What’s in today’s article?
- Why in News?
- What constitutes Global South?
- India Emerged As The Voice Of Global South
- 3rd Voice of the Global South Summit (VOGSS)
- Key highlights of the speech delivered by PM Modi
Why in News?
- The 3rd Voice of the Global South Summit (VOGSS) was hosted by India in virtual format. It was held with the overarching theme of "An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future”.
- India had hosted the 1st VOGSS on 12-13 January 2023, and the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit on 17 November 2023, both in virtual format.
What constitutes Global South?
- Not a geographical line
- Despite how it sounds, it is not really a geographical term.
- Many countries included in the Global South are in the northern hemisphere, such as India, China and all of those in the northern half of Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand, both in the southern hemisphere, are not in the Global South.
- Brandt Line as the border
- Many people refer to the Brandt Line as the border.
- The line was proposed by former German Chancellor Willy Brandt in the 1980s as a visual depiction of the north-south divide based upon per-capita GDP.
- It starts in the north of Mexico, goes across the top of Africa and the Middle East, makes a loop around India and China, and then goes down to include most of East Asia. It doesn't include Japan, Australia, or New Zealand.
- Global South as a concept
- The Global South is a geographical, geopolitical, historical and developmental concept, all at the same time — with exceptions.
India Emerged As The Voice Of Global South
- One of the various visions of G20 presidency
- When India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022, it set out various visions for the nation's year-long presidency and the Global South was one of them.
- India organized eight ministerial-level thematic segments to address the most pressing concerns of the developing world.
- Raised the issues concerning Global South
- India has raised the issues that were concerning the Global South countries on the international forums and at the United Nations meetings and conferences.
- During Covid-19 pandemic
- Made-in-India vaccines were sent to about 100 countries. And about 150 nations imported medicines during this period from the Pharmacy of the World.
- Hosted the Voice of Global South Summit
- India hosts the Voice of Global South Summit on a regular basis.
- India even ensured that the region remained centre stage at the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in May this year.
- African Union as a full member of the G20
- African Union were admitted as a full member in the G20 under India’s presidency.
- The 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa
- During this summit, PM Modi said that the Global South is not just a diplomatic term but represents the shared history of these countries against colonialism and apartheid based on which modern relations are being reshaped.
- Two-day event on international taxation
- In an attempt to voice the views of the Global South on important international issues, India held a two-day event on International Taxation at the National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT).
- This event was an initiative of the Indian Presidency to bolster capacity building for Indian tax officials in the area of International Taxation, with a global south perspective.
- India-UN Capacity Building Initiative
- In September 2023, the “India-UN Capacity Building Initiative” was announced at the event India-UN for the Global South-Delivering for Development.
- The initiative aims to share the country's best practices with partner countries in the Global South.
- Inauguration of DAKSHIN
- During the second Voice of Global South summit, PM Modi inaugurated a global centre for excellence for the Global South countries called DAKSHIN.
- Proposal to launch a satellite
- During the G20 Summit, India proposed to launch a satellite for monitoring weather and climate monitoring for Global South.
3rd Voice of the Global South Summit (VOGSS)
- The 3rd VOGSS was held in virtual format and was structured into Leaders’ Session and Ministerial sessions.
- The inaugural session was at Head of State / Government level and was hosted by PM Modi.
- The theme of the Inaugural Leaders’ Session was same as the overarching theme of the Summit, i.e., "An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future”.
Key highlights of the speech delivered by PM Modi
- Global development compact
- He proposed the creation of a human-centric Global Development Compact.
- Announcing the ‘Compact’, PM Modi said needy countries will not be burdened with debt in the name of development finance.
- The foundation of the ‘Compact’ will be based on India’s development journey and experiences of development partnership.
- Under this Compact, members will focus on trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth, technology sharing, project-specific concessional finance and grants.
- To strengthen trade promotion activities, India will start a special fund of USD 2.5 million.
- He proposed the creation of a human-centric Global Development Compact.
- Global challenges faced by countries
- There is an atmosphere of uncertainty all around” and the “world has not yet fully come out of the effects of Covid.
- The situation of war has posed challenges to our development journey.
- We are already facing challenges of climate change, and now there are also concerns about health security, food security, and energy security.
- Terrorism, extremism and separatism remain a serious threat to our societies.
- Technology divide and new economic and social challenges related to technology are also emerging.
- He underlined that the solution to various global conflicts and tensions lies in inclusive global governance.
- Highlighted failure of global institutions
- Global governance and financial institutions formed in the last century have been unable to fight the challenges of this century.
- Global South needs to unite
- He urged for steps to be taken to reduce the gap between the Global North and the Global South.
- He mentioned that the upcoming Summit of the Future at the UN next month could be an important milestone for this.
- He emphasized that the Global South needs to unite, stand together with one voice, become each other’s strength, and learn from each other’s experiences.
- India's Contribution to Digital Public Infrastructure in the Global South
- The Prime Minister referred to last year's G20 presidency, stating that the Global DPI Repository, created under India's leadership, marked the first-ever multilateral consensus on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
- He expressed satisfaction that agreements have been signed to share the 'India Stack' with 12 partners from the Global South.
- To further accelerate DPI development in the Global South, India has established a Social Impact Fund and will make an initial contribution of USD 25 million.
Q.1. What is The G20, or Group of Twenty?
The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an international forum of 19 countries and the European Union, representing major economies. Founded in 1999, it addresses global economic challenges, financial stability, and sustainable development. The G20's annual summits bring together leaders to discuss and coordinate policies on global economic issues.
Q.2. What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country's borders over a specific period, usually a year. It measures a nation's economic performance, indicating its economic health and growth. GDP is a key indicator used for comparing the economic strength of countries.
Source: Last-century financial bodies failed to fight challenges: PM Modi proposes ‘Global Compact’